


Astral Connection

by BlueStarPaladin, MsBluebell



Series: Space Moms Write Klance [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Invasion, Allura & Lance (Voltron) are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), He Shouldn't Have To Deal With This, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith Has A Lot Of Exs, M/M, Massive Man Hunt, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, The Galaxy Garrison Are Shady, Written before season 7, sorry Adam, with art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-06-16 21:25:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 57,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15446181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueStarPaladin/pseuds/BlueStarPaladin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsBluebell/pseuds/MsBluebell
Summary: Keith is unlucky in love. His few relationships are breif, all his dates go bad, and even his own soulmate seems to have rejected him. The way it looks now, he's doomed to die alone.Which might happen sooner rather than later, considering an alien race invaded Earth and their prince is demanding they hand him over.





	1. The Invasion

Everyone has a soulmate. From the moment we are born into this world, we already have the names of our fated ones engraved into our skin, symbolising our bond. Everyone in this world has a soulmate, and they are something that we all seek to find.

When you’re an infant you don't sense anything, aren’t connected yet. When you're a few years older, you gain a deeper understanding as to what the words on your skin mean. And as you continue to grow, the mysteries surrounding your soulmate begin to clear up. You are aware of their name that is engraved onto your skin, and you know that it is their name because that is what others around us say. We are all born with a soulmate, and one day, we are all fated to meet with them.

The nature of the relationship we establish with them can vary, at least we are able to choose that ourselves. However, most of those who meet their soulmates wish to remain with them for the rest of their lives. There are a few special exceptions to this, but most people do meet their soulmates.

What kind of special exceptions? Rejection... Death... If one cannot feel their soulmate despite trying so desperately to establish a connection, then it could mean either of those things. The connection between  soulmates is mysterious in many ways, and even in this day and age, we are unable to understand the full extent of this mystical bond.

How are we tied to a person we don't even know?

How deep does our connection go? 

Nobody knows the answers fully, but as humanity would have it, answers were needed to answer these questions. Since the beginning of time, humanity has been experimenting on soulmarks and the connection two soulmates share. Based on the research done by the Garrison, we are able to conclude a few things.

First is that everyone is with the name of their soulmate somewhere on their body. The location of everyone's soulmark is different but it's there for certain. No one has ever been born without a soulmark, that is a fact and not a guess.

Second is that apart from the soulmark, which states the name of the soulmate, everyone is also born with the ability to connect with them. This ability is unlocked only after reaching the late teens, connecting with someone to the soulmate as if their body were their own.

Sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. All of senses are shared, and once the connection is established the two can, in a sense, become one. There are limitations to this as well. The person whose senses are being shared becomes aware of it and can choose to accept or reject their soulmate’s attempts to connect. Although if the soulmate allows their other half usage of their senses then they are given free access to everything. This ability of sense sharing occurs when soulmates focus solely and completely on their significant other, actively wanting to establish the connection.

As humanity stands, those are the only observations on the bond of soulmates that we currently have knowledge of. In the future, more mysteries may be uncovered, but for now, we all live our everyday lives with the knowledge that we are bound to find our soulmate one day.

Everyone looks forward to meeting with their soulmate. It is something every child dreams about and still wish for when they eventually grow old enough to be able to establish a connection.

Not that everyone connected.

Everyone is born with a soulmate, yet...why do some people still remain alone?

Keith had always looked forward to establishing a connection with his soulmate, hoping for that day he would be able to meet them. He'd lost everything at a young age, and for the longest time the only thing he could cling to was the strange name written on his collarbone. It was the only thing he had, or at least he thought he did until the time came when he would be able to establish a sense link with his soulmate.

He had been just like any rebellious teenager, listening to music most would consider too loud while having his bedroom mostly covered in posters of various rocks bands and other nerdy things he loved. Once he reached his late teens Keith had tried desperately to establish a connection, to see if he would be able to see what his soulmate did and the other way around.

Shiro always used to say that the time when everyone establishes a connection with their soulmate varies, and that while most establish it in their late teens, it didn't mean that Keith's bond would never show. He was a late bloomer, or so he thought.

When his twentieth birthday came, Keith was still unable to sense his soulmate. He tried to focus, experience the same thing Shiro had described to him countless times. However, no matter how much he tried, nothing would ever happen.

Soulmates work in mysterious ways, while he may have a name written on his body, he wasn't even able to read it. The name of his soulmate was written in a strange dialect Keith had never seen before, and at certain times, he found himself questioning if this was fate's way of messing with him. The name was basically a scribble, and it made no sense to anyone who read it, not even Keith who tried to research all sorts of linguistics and languages to see if he could find a match.

Nothing.

The world was cruel and unfair.

As if it wasn't enough that Keith felt all alone with nobody by his side, he opened his eyes to find himself alone in a world full of stars.

Breath heavy, wide eyes flickered over as he stared at the strange void around him. There were a million stars littering the sky, their bright light reflecting off the ground like a pool. A huge planet hovered above him, a ring of fire surrounding it, forming an eclipse of blue and red. There was alone in this strange void, and for a moment, Keith thought he'd found himself in space.

"H-Hello!? Anybody out there!?" He called out, trying find anything at all. His voice echoed throughout the strange astral plane. His body glew, surrounded with a bright light of color. Keith raised both of his hands up, noting the glow as he studied the rest of his body. He was shining crimson red, his reflection adding to it, the only company he had in this strange place.

"You." A voice sounded, sharp as it pierced through the air, making Keith freeze in place. The raven haired boy quickly turned, spotting a single dark figure in the distance, the clearest shade of blue eyes staring right at him. They were as cold as ice and as clear as the cleanest of mountain waters.

They weren't inviting. Piercing through him like sharp shards of ice.

"Finally we're able to meet again. I've been waiting for you." The figure of dark took a step closer towards him, Keith took a step back as an automatic response. He felt his heart beat rapidly against his chest, frightened by the dangerous figure in front of him as well as the mysterious place he found himself in.

"W-Who are you? Where are we?" Keith asked, reaching out for the dagger he carried on his belt loop at all times. He pointed it up at the figure, standing firmly in place now, "Tell me!"

Blue eyes narrowed, heeding his words and not taking any more steps closer. "You know who I am." It's tone of voice sounded both annoyed and frustrated, not at all pleased by Keith's actions. "Remember? We've seen each other before."

"I’ve never seen you before in my life!" Keith stood firm with newfound confidence now that he had his dagger in hand, "Who are you!?"

The figure let out a frustrated sigh, making Keith tighten his hold on the weapon, "I hate you." It's voice echoed throughout the astral plane, "Put that down and face me." The figure began taking steps towards him, making Keith flinch as he watched it approach.

He held his dagger tightly, staring at those ice cold eyes as they neared. They seemed-

"Keith! Hello!? _Keith_!"

Keith's eyes snapped open, his body springing forward as he was startled out of sleep. He panted heavily as he clenched his hand over his chest, taking a moment before trying to make out his surroundings. The stars were gone, as well as the mysterious figure. Instead, the world was Pidge’s hazel eyes staring down at him in confusion.

“Pidge.” Keith let out a relieved sigh as he settled his back against the couch. Violet eyes flickered over the living room, the news station still playing on their television, long forgotten coffee cups settled on their chipped and broken table. Pidge had dropped her notebook on the ground, or maybe he had at some point, because his hands were empty.

He must have dozed off.

Pidge’s eyebrows knitted together in concern, “You were squirming around like you were having a nightmare or something.”

Keith rubbed his eyes, trying to ease out the slight blurriness of his vision, “Yeah, just a weird dream.”

Pidge shrugged, turning back to look at the TV, “You shouldn’t doze off on the couch anyway. It's no wonder you had a nightmare.”

Keith huffed, reaching over for his disregarded coffee cup. He took a slip of the dark liquid, winching at the coldness of it. How long had he been asleep?

“I’m making more coffee.” Keith stood up, walking over to their small kitchenette. The shared house was barely enough for the amount of people living here. And the two bedrooms where both shared, he and Pidge being roommates in the smaller of them. The kitchenette, for it’s part, could only fit about two people at a time, and it was more like a small, squared off, corner of the living room.

Keith filled their coffee machine, the only overly nice machine in the room. He leaned against the refrigerator as the dark brew filled the pot. A scratchy sticky note in Matt’s handwriting reminding him to “Call Mom” falling to to the counter as the pale boy leaned against the cool metal door.

“Still nothing!” Pidge called out from her spot on the couch, looking through some sights on the couch, “I’m thinking the rumors of a UFO sighting were a bust.”

“Shiro’s going to be pissed that he wasted his time.” Keith plucked the coffee pot up once the machine was filled. He walked back over to the couch, throwing what was left of his old coffee into a nearby plant and refilling his cup before settling the hot pot on a cup holder, “Have either of them called yet?”

“Matt called.” Pidge moved to refill her own cup, “They should be back soon.”

“So it _was_ a bust.” Keith huffed, running a hand through his hair, “Great.”

“Oh well.” Pidge shrugged, “The next one might be something.”

“Maybe.” Keith muttered, leaning forward and taking a big sip of his coffee. He shook his head, a violet sky painting his vision whenever he blinked. He let out a grunt of frustration, trying to rid himself of the vision.

“What’s wrong?” Pidge asked, something like concern lacing her voice.

“Nothing.” Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, “Just that stupid dream. I...I remember something...the sky...and someone was there.”

“Huh.” Pidge’s eyebrows knitted, “That’s weird, you don’t normally remember shit.”

“Maybe it’s because I just woke up.” Keith shrugged, dropping his hand, “What time did Matt say they were getting home?”

“By morning.” Pidge informed, grabbing the remote and turning up the TV, “So about three more hours, give or take.”

Which meant that they had about three more hours of lazing around. Keith took a sip of his now warm coffee, sticking out his tongue. It was sour as shit, intentionally stronger so that the caffeine could help him stay awake. That was the plan anyway, but it didn't seem to be working. Luckily it did do the trick for the visions because now as he blinked, he didn't see the violet sky anymore.

The two of the could hear the news anchor clearly now, their TV losing signal more and more, resulting in a shaky screen. Although they did manage to make out what the man was saying, watching in boredom as random pictures of the Garrison Headquarters were showed.

"Apart from investigating matters regarding soulmarks and soulmate bonds, the Garrison had successfully managed to fly out a druid up into space. The new druid is meant to explore one of Pluto’s moons, Kerberos, and gather cosmic water that the three explorers, Takashi Shirogane, Matt Holt, and Sam Holt, were tasked to bring back. Instead the pilots returned empty handed, reporting an encounter with extraterrestrial life, claiming that they were attacked. Their statement had been rebuked by the Garrison, who have stated that Sam Holt had lost his life in space due to an accident and that it was so severe that it left the other two members of the mission emotionally unstable. The new druid will gather what Takashi Shirogane's team couldn't and will-"

"Bullshit. What a load of crap." Pidge hissed, taking a big sip of her black coffee. She needed the caffeine now more than anything.

"I know." Keith pat her on the back, sympathetic towards his partner in crime, "They're hiding something. I'm still betting that they could be holding one of the aliens hostage."

"Nah." Pidge waved her hand in front of him, "I doubt they have the technology to capture the alien. If anything, they're trying to hide their existence."

"Or maybe they're just trying to keep the crowds calm. If Garrison suddenly came out and told everyone aliens exist, they might actually believe them." Keith raised his legs up on the table, the said furniture squeaking upon touch.

"They'd believe them over Matt and Shiro who actually _saw_ the aliens." Pidge shrugged, throwing her head back before sighing.

Humming, Keith took another sip of his coffee, thinking that he might be making himself another cup later. "There's nothing we can do about that and you know it. People are dumb and always will be."

"Ugh..." The younger of the two looked up again, eyes landing on the news anchor and then onto the Garrison building in the background. It still looked the same as the day when they all left on a journey to find the aliens responsible for the failure of the Kerberos Mission Matt and Shiro were on. "I have an idea, and I think Shiro will agree to it."

Keith moved his head to the side so that he could look at her, "What is it?"

"I was thinking we could go back to the Garrison." She pointed at the TV as Keith moved along with the direction of her finger, "We're out of leads so the best thing we can do right now is to go back and try hacking into their communications frequencies. We might be able to catch something important if we listen in on them."

“That sounds like a quick way to end up in jail.” Keith took a quick sip of his coffee, “We could get away with that when we were younger, but it's been two years.”

“Well, what else do you want us to do?” Pidge grumbled, taking another sip at her coffee as she glared hatefully at the TV screen, “In case you didn’t hear me, we’re out of options. All of Shiro’s leads have been dead ends.”

“That doesn’t mean can go and break into the Garrison again.” Keith reasoned, placing down his cup as he turned to face the girl, “Look, normally I’m all up for helping you do illegal shit, but we’re on the Garrison's watch list, and we _barely_  got away with trying to get information last time. If we do it again and get caught we’ll be arrested for treason, and I don’t know about you but Guantanamo Bay doesn’t sound appealing.”

“That’s why we won’t _get_  caught.” Pidge turned to face him, leaning forward as she got into his personal bubble, something she knew he was uncomfortable with, “You’re good at sneaking Keith. If we do this together then we might be able to pull this off.”

“It’s too risky Pidge.” Keith grumbled, placing down his cup and snatching up the remote, flipping through the channels until he ended up on some mindless cartoon that couldn’t possibly remind the girl of her alien obsession, “If we get caught, and it _is_  a possibility, then we’re effectively leaving Shiro and Matt. You know how they’ve been since Kerberos, we can’t leave them. Hunk can only do so much on his own, and your mom…”

“I know the risks Keith.” Pidge hissed, “And that’s how confident I am that we could get information.”

“No Pidge.” Keith placed his foot down, voice firm but soft, “I’m not doing it. End of discussion.”

“We have to Keith.” Pidge tried, “What we’re doing isn’t working.”

“Look Pidge.” Keith rubbed his forehead, pulling away from the girl, “We’re both tired as shit and have been overworking ourselves. We need a break before our brothers get home. How about we just take a nap and get something to eat? Have some down time? We’ll talk about this some more tomorrow.”

The pale boy leaned back against the couch tiredly, trying to watch the TV while Pidge stared at him with a displeased look. She threw herself against the back support of their old couch before leaning to the side to take her laptop from her bag. Keith tilted his head to the side as she flipped it open, typing in her password before the screen lit up. "I'm not telling you this just for the fun of it. I _know_  we can find clues at the Garrison, and I'm set on getting them."

Keith rolled his eyes tiredly, massaging his temple, "Why are you always so stubborn Pidge? Will you listen to me at least once in your life? It's too dangerou-"

"Hold on." She raised her hand in front of his face, successfully managing to stop him from saying anything else, "Before you go on and tell me to stop, let me show you something." She turned to her laptop again while Keith leaned in closer to have a look. He'll indulge her in this before he really decides to ignore her for the rest of the night. He watched as Pidge opened a few of her files, taking her to one specific folder named 'File X'.

"That's an original name." Keith snorted.

"They have a lot of bright heads back at the Garrison. Too bright for their own good." The girl said sarcastically, opening the file to reveal an audio recording. "This is a transmission I've managed to intercept before Matt and Shiro left. After you hear this, you'll change your mind about going back to the Garrison."

She pressed the play button, letting the track play as they both listened closely.

_Bzz... Zzzzz...._

'Lost signal of... d-druid X56. It managed to m-ake it into the hemisphere but as it flew out of our system, it vanished.'

'What was i-it's last known location?'

'Coordinates 3472.'

'Almost r-reached Kerberos.'

_Zzzz... Bzzz..._

'We'll being preparations to send a new druid into space.'

Pidge's recording cut here. The girl turned to Keith knowingly, waiting for him to say that she was right all along. The other rolled his eyes, leaning back against the couch, "They lost a druid's signal Pidge, so what? They've been losing every single druid that made it into space. We already knew that."

"But don't you think it's weird?" Pidge leaned her hand against her chin, "Every time they proud themselves that they'll send a new druid into space, but what the world doesn't know is that all these druids end up getting lost. Their signal just disappears." Her gaze moved onto Keith, "You know it's weird, but you don't want to admit it because you're too scared of going back to the Garrison. As far as I see it, this is the only lead worth following right now. I doubt Shiro's intel will be any better than this."

“I’m not saying you’re wrong Pidge.” Keith sighed, rubbing his temples, “I’m saying it’s too risky. We’ve got a lot of responsibility to take a risk like this Pidge.”

“We don’t have any other options Keith.” Pidge hissed, “This is our chance, we need to take it.”

Keith sighed, rubbing his forehead and pacing down his cup, “I’m tired Pidge, let’s talk about this tomorrow, after we had some sleep, maybe something will change by then.”

Pidge’s eyes narrowed dangerously, resentfully watching him as she gathered her things. He didn’t blame her, he knew how important this whole thing was for her, but he also realized how reckless the girl got when she thought they’d found a lead to her father. He had to be the breaks on this relationship more often than not, just like she was for him sometimes, but right now it was his turn to be responsible.

He stood up, walking towards his and Pidge’s shared bedroom, determined to get away for a little while until the both of them had time to rest and think about a /not/ stupid plan to get information. He knew he let Pidge down just now, but it was better than egging her on.

Tired eyes landed on his pitiful bed, the pale boy making a beeline for his bed before dropping onto the cheap mattress. He slumped tiredly, closing his eyes to pretend he was asleep.

Sleep didn’t come just because he was pretending. The caffeine wasn’t a good idea, but that was burning out quickly. His body was turning very sore now, and now it felt like he was nothing but a pile of sleeplish flesh against the blankets.

He heard Pidge come in, silently walking over to her bed before settling in, not bothering to say a word to him as she gave in to her own weariness. Keith was left alone then, in the dark with nothing but his own shallow breaths as company.

He blinked tiredly, his eyes drifting shut just a little long every time until…

An indigo sky, or maybe violet, with so many stars he thought he’d lost himself in space for a few moments. The pale boy stared for a moment, moving a pale hand forward. He skin glew with a strange light, illuminated further in the reflective pool beneath his feet. A black sun burned in the distance. Or was it a planet?

He took a step forward, staring at the strange stars.

“You’re back.” A voice cut through, causing the raven headed to snap in the direction it had come from.

Angry blue eyes stared back at him, the icy gaze trained on him as the stranger stepped forward, “Keith, come here.”

“Who are you?” Keith demanded, taking a step back, “How do you know my name?”

The stranger let out a frustrated growl, “You know that already.”

Keith’s hand reached for his belt loop, his fingers settling on the comforting weight of his knife as the stranger took a step forward. The blue eye watched him, stopping once he saw the ravenette reaching for the weapon. The stranger left out a frustrated sigh, “Put that down.”

“I don’t think so.” Keith backed away.

The stranger kept his eyes trained on Keith, gaze hard, “I’m coming for you.”

“ _What?_ ” Keith demanded.

“I’m coming for you.” The stranger repeated, “Keith.”

_“Keith.”_

_“Keith.”_

The boy was snapped out of sleep by a rough hand shaking his shoulder. Violet eyes napped open as they trained on Pidge’s form. The girl stared at him, bag eyed and frustrated, “You were squirming around and being loud.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Keith apologised, rubbing his tired eyes, “Must have been a weird dream.”

Pidge frowned, “Remember anything?”

“No.” Keith shook his head before pausing, “Well, actually, yeah. Someone else was there, but I don’t remember anything else.”

“Probably a serial killer dream or something.” Pidge grumbled, “I’m going back to sleep.”

"Sorry." Keith mumbled while Pidge turned around, pulling a blanket over herself to continue sleeping. Keith settled down as well, looking up at the ceiling and the fan that was spinning around. He closed his eyes tiredly, taking in a deep breath before leaning his hand against his forehead.

'Click!'

He heard someone open the door of their little house, Shiro and Matt's voices sounding and calming the pale boy down. The neighbourhood they were in wasn't that great so he always took caution whenever he heard the door open. He closed his eyes again, trying to get some sleep before they would get up and travel in a few hours.

Morning came much earlier than Keith would have liked and neither he or Pidge managed to get any sleep that night. Well, Pidge managed to sleep a hour tops while Keith slept for at least for about thirty minutes before waking up. He blamed it all on the nightmare and their late coffee drinking.

"Couldn't sleep?" Shiro, his adoptive brother, asked while placing a plate of eggs in front of him. They were all scattered around the little house, Pidge and Keith sitting on the couch to eat while Matt and Shiro ate in their bedroom with the door open.

"Nope." The pale boy shrugged, "All Pidge's fault."

The said girl hit him lightly with her foot, "Says the one who wanted to watch Netflix all night. Suck it up and take the blame loser."

“I didn’t even _get_  to watch Netflix last night.” Keith grumbled, taking a bite of his pitiful breakfast, “We just watched the news all night. Honestly, we would have been better off listening to the radio.”

“Well, I gave my idea.” Pidge shot back, stirring her plate of eggs, “You turned that down.”

“Because it’s a bad idea.” Keith stated as he reached for the remote and switched the TV back on, hoping to drown the girl out with the latest of BBC World news rather than local channels. Maybe something interesting happened out in the wide old world somewhere.

The British lady on screen started talking, but her words went in one ear and out the other as he waited for something important to actually happen.  

“I can’t believe you’re going to let an excellent opportunity like this pass.” Pidge grumbled hatefully.

“I can’t believe we’re not at Hunk’s cafe right now.” Keith shrugged, staring at his plate, “His mom makes way better eggs.”

“Don’t make this about Matt’s shitty cooking.” Pidge huffed, crossing her arms, “You know I want to talk about this.”

“And you know that I only got a half hour of sleep last night and don’t want to talk about it.” Keith placed his plate down and stretched, “Give it up Pidge, God himself couldn’t make me go right now.”

“I have blackmail.”

“And I have zero fucks to give.” Keith leaned back against the couch, letting his eyes blink closed, “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for stocks or whatever you do for money on your computer?”

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the garage?” Pidge shot back.

“Yeah, I should.” Keith stood up, grabbing the excuse and heading towards the bedroom, “Thanks for the reminder.”

He heard Pidge grumble some more before he entered his room. He grabbed his uniform and a towel before heading toward the bathroom and throwing on the water as arm as he could. So what if he was hogging the warm water? No one else was doing anything important today.

The shower lasted only about ten minutes before he was out and drying himself. Violet eyes flickered over his scribbled out soulmark. He shook his head, throwing on his uniform and brushing his teeth before kicking open the door. The ravenette moved through the living room, heading straight for the door, “Bye Pidge.”

“Rot in hell Keith.”

“You too.”

He was out the door then, on his bike and driving down the street before anyone else could say anything. The auto mechanics he worked at was just down the main street, but he didn’t feel like walking right now.

The shop was the only mechanics in the small town, and was run by an elderly man that chewed too much tobacco. Keith was the youngest worker there, the man not trusting most of the local teens to do anything. Most of the other workers were competent to work with though, Keith’s favorite manager being a particularly competent woman that knew her way around a wrench.

There was only one really bad coworker, a guy who stood him up for a date once. Luckily everyone was smart enough to keep his and Keith’s shifts far, far, away from each other on the schedule.

The shop was full of particularly competent coworkers today, so fate must be showing him a small mercy after his rough night. He was able to set out to work easily enough, settling into routine without any drama.

But just as he clocked in, Keith felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, seeing Shiro's name on the screen. He picked up, holding the device up using his arm so that he could focus on gathering his tools with both hands instead, "I made it to work." He answered right away, going over to his working area, "Nothing to worry about."

Shiro sighed on the other line, "You're not even going to greet me? 'Hello brother, how are you? Did you sleep well today?'. You know, the usual stuff brothers talk about."

"I'm not a kid Shiro." Keith placed down the tools, waving at his fellow co-worker who was already working on a Mustang March 1. It was an old timer but the car was still beautiful in it's own way. "You know what? Fine. How are you dear brother?" He played along, looking over the car and the document that stated it's faults. His eyes trailed down the words, reading while listening to Shiro at the same time.

"Nothing much, just wanted to see how my brother was doing. Didn't even care to say goodbye before leaving to work." Shiro sounded somewhat mad, but Keith couldn't blame him. He should have said something before leaving.

"I slept thirty minutes tops today, can you blame me?" He huffed before kneeling down, checking on the car's wheels, "Is that all? I have work to do dear brother."

"That would be all." Shiro decided to finally give him a break, "Just make sure you don't kill your ex. What was it again... Steven? Jack?"

"Ugh..." Keith grumbled under his breath, "Look, I promise I won't kill anyone today. Now will you let me get to work? Love you by the way."

"Love you too little brother." Shiro said lightly and at this point Keith could hear Matt calling him over, "Gotta go. See you later Keith."

"Yeah, see you." He hanged up the phone, placing it back into his pocket before giving all of his attention to the Mustang in front of him. The car was painted red with black leather seats inside. It was a sweet ride and if he could, he would give it a spin. Although not with the faulty engine. They’ll have to fix that before focusing on the exhaust pump.

Keith managed to work undisturbed for an hour before a familiar voice called out his name, “Hey Keith, that’s a sweet ride you got there.” The pale boy looked up to see Hunk, his bulker friend with a yellow headband tied around his forehead. The sight of Hunk, and most importantly the box he was holding in hand made him relax.

“Hey Hunk. Got the goods?” He pushed himself from under the car, accepting the box Hunk handed over to him.

“As always, chocolate muffins with black coffee. I really don’t know how you can drink all of that coffee man. That’s can’t be good for you.” Hunk was a worrying mother, a complete opposite of Pidge and her constant bullying.

“You may be right. I drank coffee all of last night.” Maybe he should give it a break and just eat the chocolate muffin instead?

“All night? Please tell me you’re joking.” Hunk’s expression turned to that of concern, hoping that Keith really _was_  joking about this.

“Nope.” Keith shook his head. “All Pidge’s idea. She wanted to try intercepting some of the Garrison’s signals again. We got nothing tonight.”

Hunk wrinkled his nose, looking distinctly uncomfortable, “Keith, you know I don’t like hearing about that stuff. Plausible deniability.”

“Sorry.” Keith shrugged, working tinkering with the engine, “It doesn’t matter though, we didn’t find anything last night. Pidge is getting desperate. I had to talk her out of trying to break into the Garrison this morning.”

Hunk sighed, rubbing his forehead tirely as he moved into place to help tinker with the engine, “No offence man, but I’m starting to think maybe you guys should give up on all this.”

“Don’t tell the others that.” Keith warned, tapping his wrench against the side of the car, “Particularly Pidge. You know that she’s hoping to find her father someday.”

“It’s been two years thought.” Hunk winched, “We all dropped out of the Garrison for this man. But I’m starting to think obsessively looking for signs might be a bad idea. Its taking a toll on all of your heaths.”

“I know.” Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, “But what else can I do? Tell them all to give up?”

“We might have to man.” Hunk reasoned, “This isn’t healthy, and you guys don’t make enough money to keep doing this. Not to mention the toll its taking on your social lives.”

“What social life?” Keith frowned, “I haven’t been out with other people in over a year.”

“Exactly.” Hunk nodded, “No offence Keith, but you always had a hard enough time with the whole socialization thing without all this.”

“It’s not my fault the guys kept standing me up.” Keith growled, “Besides, you aren’t exactly a social butterfly either.”

“Yeah, but I at least take a break and get out sometimes.” Hunk poked him lightly with a screwdriver, “Besides, I wasn’t talking about dates. I was talking about people in general.”

“People suck anyway.” Keith shrugged, “Remember that girl that stood _you_  up on that double date we went on? She especially sucked, the fact there are people in the world that would even dare hurt your feelings is all the proof I need the world sucks.”

Hunk cracked a smile at that, “I’m flattered you feel that way, but you didn’t need to punch the guy that set us up over it.”

“He was being an asshole and I was worried about you.” Keith shrugged, “He obviously wasn’t worthy of my time if he seriously thought a date was more important than my friendship with you. He was getting aggressive anyway, trying to pressure me into sex before I was ready, breaking up with him that night was best thing I ever did.”

Hunk pat his shoulder, “Don’t worry buddy, you’ll meet the right guy someday.”

“I doubt it.” Keith shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve given up on finding a serious relationship. I’m just going to get a dog and die alone.”

“That’s the most pitiful thing I’ve ever heard.” Hunk admitted as he refilled the windshield wiping fluid, “Don’t give up Keith.”

“It’s not like guys just drop out of the sky Hunk.” Keith grumbled, “Besides, I should focus more on my auto mechanic career now anyway.”

“Man, you’re making me lose hope.” Hunk deflated, “Most of my dates end as bad as yours.”

“Such is the fate of unrequited soulmates.”

Hunk visibly deflated, sparing a look at his soulmark that was on the top of his wrist. He read out the name ‘Shay’ loudly in his mind, wondering if he’ll ever get to meet his soulmate. He knew that the topic of soulmates was touchy to Keith especially, but Hunk couldn’t help it. “Fate must have written their names on us for a reason. I’ll keep believing that I’ll find them one day.”

Keith continued working, huffing, “You’re a naive soul Hunk. Just because we have the names of our soulmates written down, it doesn’t mean that we’ll meet them someday. Pidge is the perfect example of this. She and her soulmate decided to be platonic instead of pursuing a romantic relationship, and I’m not even talking about others who reject their soulmate’s sense connection. That’s a whole new territory and I’m not even going there.”

“Sorry man.” Hunk apologised, “I know you don’t like talking about it.”

“It’s okay.” Keith assured, drinking a bit of water before wiping some of the drops off his mouth, “I’m over it. There’s no point hoping if nobody will ever appear. Don’t worry about it Hunk, I’m good. Thanks though, I appreciate you being considerate.” Only Hunk would be kind enough to apologise like this.

The other gave a small smile, “That’s good to hear, but I still think you have a chance of meeting them. I know Pidge and I are persistent but I tried doing some research and…”

“Oh no… Not interested.” Keith turned away, searching for a tool he needed.

“No! No! Wait till you see this!” Hunk grabbed a tablet that was nearby, pulling up files he saved last night after doing some research. “I’ve been thinking about the type of writing your soulmark could be written in and I think that I found a close match. Look at this.” He opened a map of the world, zooming into one particular part of Arabia. Then he opened another image, showing the type of writing they use there. “I’ve tried comparing some of their letters to your soulmarks and I think I’ve hit pretty close. What do you think?”

Keith took the tablet in hand, eyes roaming over the images while trying to compare his soulmark to the writing that was in the pictures. “It does look similar.”

“Doesn’t it!?” Hunk perked up happily, “Pidge and I are both sure that your soulmate must be somewhere from Arabia, or better yet, a civilisation whose records aren’t in any known files. For all we know, they could be tribe people living in the desert.”

Keith crossed his arms, “So now you’re saying that my soulmate could be someone living in the desert like a wild man? What happened to the Arabian prince?”

“It could still be a prince.” Hunk smiled, “I’m sure that fate would pair you up Arabian royalty, living in a desert and in a castle full of maids. You’re from Texas, also living in a desert. Think about it, you two would be _perfect_  for each other.”

“Yeah, _would_  be perfect.” Keith huffed, pushing himself under the car.

Hunk lowered the tablet, his worry coming back in full force again, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, I’m good Hunk, that’s not the issue here.” Keith began screwing some of the bolts under the car, “Sure, maybe you and Pidge are right and my soulmate is from somewhere in Arabia. It would explain why I can’t read their name and have no idea in what text it’s written. But that still doesn’t mean anything if I can’t establish a connection with them.”

“Well…” Hunk trailed off, “We don’t know anything about their traditions. Maybe they’re not supposed to make a connection until they’re twenty-one or something. You know different cultures have different feelings about these things.”

Keith paused for a moment, considering. He felt a traitorous bloom of hope in his chest, even as he tries to squash it down the damn warmth just wouldn’t die. He tentatively placed his wrench down, rubbing his oily fingers on the uniform, “You think so?”

“Yeah man.” Hunk nodded enthusiastically, “I did some research, right? And in some cultures its considered bad luck or something to contact your soulmate until you’re a certain age. There’s this tribe in Africa where they firmly believe that you shouldn’t even _try_  to connect with your soulmate until you’re about thirty.”

“Thirty?” Keith raised a bow, “That’s a long time.”

“Not really man, that’s still young.” Hunk tested some bolts, “I’m not saying your soulmate is part of that tribe, I’m just saying that maybe they’re just waiting until they’re the right age. You only _just_  turned twenty the other week. Technically, if you were a part of some cultures, you would have another year to go before you could even try.”

Keith bit his lip, feeling that traitorous hope blossom more, “You really think that might be the case?”

“Yeah man.” Hunk nodded enthusiastically, “I really do, so promise me you won’t give up hope yet?”

Hunk’s face was so earnest and hopeful that Keith didn't have a choice but to give in. He sighed, letting the fight out of him. He knew it was probably a bad idea, he really did, but it was hard when he _wanted_  that to be true so badly. He nodded, “Alright.”

“Yes! We’ll both keep hoping together.” Hunk’s face lit up, his enthusiasm returning as he turned to focus on fixing the car again. “Besides, I bet we’re not the only ones who didn’t find their soulmates yet. Cultures man, they’re complex.”

“I hope you’re right.” Keith clenched his jaw as he pushed on his screwdriver, trying to screw a bolt as tight as he could, “But I still think it’s messed up to wait that long. If those cultures as waiting before connecting with their soulmates, then doesn’t that mean that they’ll spend the most of their youth alone? It’s a waste.”

“Yeah.” Hunk nodded in thought, “Or maybe they see their youth as a time that should be spent with their families? You know, before finding your soulmate and travelling out of the nest to find them.”

Keith had never considered this before, but now that Hunk suggested it, it did make sense. Although he still tried to tell himself that he shouldn’t cling to this little hope he found, knowing that inevitably nothing will happen a year from now on, or even a few years later. He didn’t want this little hope he found to hurt him even more than it already has.

“What about Shay?” Keith asked curiously, “You think she’s from one of those cultures?”

“Maybe.” Or at least that’s what Hunk would like to think, “I did some research and found out that her name has Hebrew and Celtic origins. She’s most likely from an English speaking country so that means she could be in the States!”

“How do you know it’s a woman?” Keith teased from under the car, “What if it’s a man?”

“A gut feeling.” Hunk replied confidently, “I would want them to be a woman, so you could say I’m hoping that they are. Not that I wouldn’t mind if they turn out to be a man! It’s just… I don’t know man.” Hunk found himself fidgeting with his tools, “I’m just so set on thinking that they’re a woman that I didn’t even consider them being a guy. I just have this feeling, you know?”

“Yeah, I think I know what you mean.” Keith screwed another screw into the car, “I think my soulmate is a man, and nobody will tell me otherwise.”

“A prince?” Hunk asked teasingly.

“From what both you and Pidge said, then maybe they are.” The pale mechanic huffed, “I did my own research and looked into all princes Arabia has, and so far, I didn’t manage to find a single one that matches my soulmark, but that’s beside the point. The point is that I don’t care about anything else, as long as I get to meet them.”

“And that they’re a guy.” Hunk teased again.

“Exactly.” Keith pushed himself out, sitting up, “We can dream all we want Hunk, but the true question is if we’ll ever get to meet them, no matter who they are or what their genders are.”

“We’ll meet them.” The other stated confidently, “I’m sure of it bud.”

Keith hummed in thought, looking up at Hunk and his enthusiastic smile. Hunk may have gone to a couple of dates, and yeah, both he and Keith were experiences in intimate stuff but Hunk still held onto hope. It was a part of him that Keith envied because even though Hunk didn’t find his soulmate yet, he still has hope to think that he’ll meet them one day.

Sometimes Hunk’s own hope rubbed onto Keith, and he would find himself with renewed hope that he’d meet his mate many times before. However, they were fruitless every time which usually ended in Keith sulking all day and going out to drink.

Hunk was a good person, and Keith was glad to have him as a friend.

“Hey! You two! Slacking off again!?” The two turned when they heard their boss call out to them, Hunk jumping in place.

“N-No sir! Been working since I clocked in!” The larger of the two replied, the older looking man with a beard and hunched back gruffed.

“Get to work! Money doesn’t grow on trees! Che! You youngsters are all the same! Thinking you can play around and expect life to be good? No!” The grumpy old man continued walking, checking on all of his employees while he did.

Hunk sighed in relief, brushing the sweat off his forehead. Keith placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, letting him know that everything was okay, “Let’s get back to work. We need to fix the combustion pipeline next.”

“Got it.” They both focused on the pipeline while one of their co-workers switched on the TV that was mounted onto the wall, letting the news play while they all worked.

The two of them set out to work far more silently than before, neither wanting to risk a scolding from their short tempered boss. There was always something to do around the garage, and at least twenty appointments for car inspections alone that day.

For the most part though, it was almost unbearably quite that day. The only noises either of the tso were treated to being the various noises of checked engines. There were the occasional moments when Keith walked to the front of the garage where the waiting room sat, pushing open the glass door into the cooler room and listening to the buzz of news as he tended to the customers.

By the time their eight hour shift was coming to a close the two of them decided that they’d skip their thirty minute required lunch break in favor of going home early. That gave them just enough time to finish one last inspection before heading home.

It was during that last inspection that things went horribly, horribly, wrong.

He was just ringing up the costumer, an elderly woman that he vaguely recognized as being the one who had the huge Doberman, when the waiting room TV starting blaring with a red alert. The news program cut abruptly as images of giant ships hovered over the sky. A professional woman in Garrison garb cut onto screen as the red alert continued playing.

“This is an emergency announcement.” The woman started with a stern voice, almost eerily calm despite the fact that there were giant UFOs showing in the sky over what looked like most of the major cities, “Everyone remain calm and unpanicked. Garrison Officials are in control of the situation.”

“In control of the situation?” Hunk cried, hands grabbing his hair and tugging harshly, _“What_  situation? What’s going on?”

“Those look like _alien_  ships.” Keith smirked widely, “Ha! Fuck you Garrison! Can’t deny Shiro’s testimony now! He was right!”

“That’s the first thing that comes to your mind!? Keith!? What’s going on!?” Hunk looked around, spotting a few people who were confused, actually, a majority was. Then there were those that began to scream and a few that tried to hide from whatever was going on. Whatever was going on, Hunk _knew_  that something bad was going to happen. “Y-You can’t tell me those are actually aliens. Are they really?”

“Yes! They’re aliens! Yes!” Keith’s reaction contradicted those of everyone, smiling widely while the rest of the people around him were on full panic mode. The pale body didn’t even get a chance to take out his phone before it buzzed, Shiro’s name appearing on the screen.

Keith picked up as fast as he could, “Shiro! Do you see that! An alien ship! They-”

“I know.” Shiro’s voice sounded a bit shaky, “Keith are you outside? Go out and look at it.”

The mechanic quirked a brow, not thinking twice about it before making a beeline for the exit. He ran out of the garage with Hunk following behind him, his eyes widening when he spotted the massive alien ship far off into the distance, hovering above a city that was in that direction. “Holy shit.” Keith muttered, his face lighting up.

“I know.” Shiro’s voice sounded, “But while I’m thrilled that my testimony was finally proven to be true, I’m also worried about what will happen now. The Garrison clearly doesn’t have the situation under control. It’s a facade to keep the public calm.” Keith could hear Shiro’s voice deepen with his next works, “Keith I need you to get back home immediately. If they’re the same aliens that attacked Matt and I on Kerberos, then they might start attacking any minute now.”

And those words made Keith freeze. Okay… He didn’t think about that at all. The whole reason why the Kerberos mission was a failure is because the aliens preferred violence over diplomacy. Keith clenched his hand around the phone, violet eyes on the massive ship in the distance, “I’m on my way back. Are you sure they’re the same aliens?”  

“I-I don’t know Keith, but I need you back home immediately.” Shiro’s voice was panicked, although Keith could sense that he was trying to maintain calm. Memories of the Kerberos mission must be resurfacing, and that wasn’t good at all.

“I’m on my way.” Keith hanged up, putting the phone back into his pocket. The people around him were screaming now, children crying at the sight of the huge ship. The aliens weren’t attacking for now, but the mere sight of their ship was enough to instill fear into humans who had never seen aliens prior to this in their entire lives. It was so surreal… and even now, Keith found it hard to look away.

The pale boy beelined for the still panicking Hunk, grabbing the boy’s shoulders and forcing him to stand still and look him in the eyes, “Hunk, come on, we’re going home.”

“But what about the aliens?” Hunk panicked. “Oh, oh man, I never actually thought…”

“Come on.” Keith pulled the boy along, pushing his way back into the store and heading straight for the clock out machine. It was fifteen minutes early, but Keith was pretty sure their boss didn’t give a shit right about now. After he managed to clock the both of them out, he dragged Hunk over towards his bike and threw the boy onto the back seat. He didn’t waste any more time, driving them both home without hesitation.

Luckily, Hunk and his mom lived only a few houses from him, so Keith didn’t have to make any pit stops on his way home. Hunk’s mother seemed to have run home in a panic after the ship appeared, if the frantic way she was waving her son over was any indication, and the Samoan wasted no time getting to her.

Keith parked his bike and practically flew towards his doorsteps, only stopping for a moment to stare at the ship from over his shoulder. The thing was huge, easily the size of most castles, and it was a stark and pearly white that stood out starkly against the white clouds and setting sun.

The pale boy opened the door, rushing inside, “I’m home.”

“Keith.” Shiro jumped from his place in front of the TV, engulfing him in a hug as soon as his eyes landed on his younger brother, “Thank goodness you’re home.”

“Yeah, I saw a bit of the news.” Keith pulled away from the hug, “Do those ships look familiar?”

“I don’t know.” Matt shook his head from his spot next to Pidge on the couch. He seemed far more stressed than normal, nearly on the verge of a breakdown, “Shiro, what if they are?”

“Then why haven’t they attacked yet?” Pidge rubbed her chin suspiciously.

“Who cares?” Keith moved to sit at the coffee table, “We need a plan. What are we going to do now?”

“We don’t know anything yet.” Shiro cautioned, “But if things go south, and they might, than we head towards shelter.”

“Wow… I honestly never thought we would be using it.” Pidge pushed up her glasses, “I knew we were going to catch the aliens but I never thought they would show up like this. Wow! Fuck you Garrison! That’s what you get for being a bitch!”

“Fuck them.” Keith agreed, the two of them giving each other a high five.

“I know you’re both thrilled, and I am too, but we’re facing something that is bigger than us. If the aliens want something then they could destroy the entire town with a simple press of a button.” And by the looks of it, alien ships were scattered everywhere around the globe. They came in number and at the moment, things didn’t look good for all of humanity.

“Wait! They’re reporting on it.” Matt snatched the remote, raising the volume so that they could all hear the Garrison woman speak. She appeared on the screen with the image of one of the alien ships behind her.

“Unidentified flying objects have appeared around the world, and at this point in time we can confirm that there were more ships spotted in London, Tokyo, New York and Sydney. We caution all of the citizens of the United States to remain calm. The Garrison has the situation fully under control and will attempt to negotiate with those inside the ships.” The woman nodded off the camera.

“At this point in time we ask all of the citizens to head back into their homes and take refuge there. Keep your digital devices switched on at all times so that you may continue receiving regular updates. The government will be sending text messages to those who-”

“Guys!” The door of their house flew open, a panicked Hunk appearing at the doorway, “Aliens! They’re _aliens!”_ He waved his hands in the air frantically, completely out of himself, “We’re being invaded! This is the end! We’re all gonna die!”

“Hunk! Shut up!” Pidge managed to stop his loud yells, “Nobody is dying, at least not for now.”

“Not for now!? Oh god!” It did nothing to help poor Hunk calm down.

“Hunk, calm down.” Shiro, ever the level headed one, stopped the boy and sat him down, “No one here is going to die. Remember the plans we made? If worst comes to worst then we’ll take shelter in the bunkers we set up.”

“Okay, okay, okay.” The Samoan was _trying_  to calm, he really was, but it didn’t seem to be working very well. He was calm for all of three seconds before he calmed down again, “Oh man! So many people are going to _die.”_

“We don’t know that yet.” Matt twiddled his thumbs, “Do those look like the same ships Shiro?”

“No.” The older man shook his head, “But that doesn’t mean they’re friendly either.”

“We shouldn’t wait around to see what they want.” Keith shrugged, pulling out his phone, “The news is streaming on YouTube. We should make a run for one of our safe houses just incase. We can come back once we’re sure they’re not hostile.”

“Good idea Keith.” Shiro nodded, “Hunk...go get your mother and-”

“Wait!” Matt pointed back towards the TV, “Listen!”

The Garrison representative, still eerily calm as she spoke, “-have made contact with a member of the visiting species’ royal family. The species, who have now identified themselves as ‘Altean’ wish to negotiate with planetary government leaders for the reasons behind their visit. Thus far no hostile actions have yet to be taken. World leaders are all phoning in to address the Alteans under the watchful eyes of the Garrison.”

“Okay, so they’re not out to kill everyone.” Hunk breathed.

“It’s probably an attempt at a benevolent takeover.” Pidge hummed, her eyes narrowing dangerously on the screen. She was already gathering her things to run, the emergency bags already out of their hiding places and ready to go.

“We don’t know that yet.” Shiro breathed, kneeling down to stare at the television, “We’ll know once negotiations between them and the world’s governments are over.”

“Well I don’t know about you.” Keith stood up, walking toward the kitchenette and washing the oil and grease off of him, peeling his overall off as he stripped right there and sponge bathed in the sink, “But I say we get out of here and get into a safe house _before_  that happens. I’ll be ready to go as soon as I’m out of this uniform.”

“Oh no, no, nooooo.” Hunk groaned, falling back against the couch, “I don’t want to live through galactic colonization. Haven’t we Samoans suffered enough?”

“We’re _not_  going to be colonized.” Pidge huffed, but she deflated even under her own words. She didn’t even seem to believe in them fully despite being the one who said them.

Keith moved towards his bedroom for a moment, stripping down and changing into clean clothes before quickly packing a small bag and rejoining his group in the living room. He grabbed some of the emergency bags, shuffling them over his shoulders, “I’m ready when you all are.”

“Wait.” Shiro stopped him from moving, “Something is happening.”

And it was, because the screen shifted from the woman to a white room. The room was filled to the brim with Garrison Commanders, and Keith could easily recognize Iverson’s ugly mug among the familiar faces.

What wasn’t familiar were the faces of what must have been the “Alteans”.

They were humanoid at least, though it was obvious they weren’t necessarily _human_. They had pointed ears, some of them with candied colored hair, and clothes that looked kind of like robes more than anything else. They each had markings on their cheeks, some blue and others pink.

In the center of these people was a boy around his age, wearing much nicer clothes than the rest of the Alteans. He was tanned, with blue eyes and white hair, decorated in all sorts of fancy jewelry. The way the other Alteans surrounded him and the fact he sat on what looked like a throne made it obvious to Keith that the guy was probably a member of the royal family that had contacted the Garrison.

A member of the Garrison emerged from the corner of the screen, positioning himself in the middle to address the viewers, “The prince of Altea’s royal family would now like to broadcast a message to all people of planet Earth. The Garrison asks that you remain calm during the broadcast and assures that the situation is under control.” The man stepped to the side again while the camera focused on the member of the royal family.

Keith and the rest watched with all of their attention on the screen, watching as one of the Alteans approached the prince and pointed towards the camera, most likely explaining that it was the communication device that the humans use. The prince nodded as his fellow Altean stepped away, turning to face the camera fully.

“Humans of planet Earth, my name is Lance and I’m a prince of the Altean royal family. The royal family are the rulers of the Altean people and planet Altea that is deca-phoebes away from your planet. We’ve come to Earth in peace, that is if you cooperate with us to reach a deal that will benefit the both of our people.” The prince, Lance, never moved his eyes away from the camera.

“I understand that you’ve never made contact with others outside of your planet, and in that way we differ. Alteans are known for travelling the universe, privy to discovering the unknown. However, while my people are known for travelling, the royal family spends most of their time on Altea. My presence itself is proof enough of how serious this situation is.” Lance’s eyes closed for a second, as if gathering himself before speaking again.

“Your people are ignorant of space diplomacy, and you lack the knowledge we possess. We are willing to share our wisdom and protect planet Earth from the danger of war in exchange for an individual. We ask that you give us Keith Kogane in exchange for our full cooperation and peace among our people. I want him delivered to me unharmed and alive.” Everyone’s eyes turned to Keith, wide and in shock.

That is until Lance spoke again, “If some try to capture Keith and use him as leverage against us, then we will destroy your planet without any questions asked. Keith Kogane is not to be harmed in any way, shape, or form. Once we receive custody of Keith Kogane, we can begin negotiations with the government of your planet. We have stated our terms and will give you enough time to think about our conditions. That is all we have to say at this point in time.”

The transmission suddenly cut, moving to a TV anchor who sat in the studio, updating the people of the situation at hand. Shiro and rest were left speechless, turning to share at the pale boy in the room who was just as shocked as they were.

“For the record.” Pidge was the first one to speak up, “If you open Facebook and type in ‘Keith Kogane’ at least ten names pop-up. What if he means another Keith Kogane?”

Hunk, ever the pessimist when it came to disaster, was the first one to _really_  panic, “Oh no! They’re after you Keith!”

“We don’t _know_  that.” Matt stood up, trying to stop any potential meltdowns before they could happen, but he didn’t seen to believe it at all himself, his eyes flickering towards the bags as he made his way towards Shiro cautiously, “Why don’t we just go ahead and get to one of our safe houses, yeah?”

Shiro and Keith had both remained stock still, frozen by the words that had fallen from the Altean princess’ lips. For the younger brother the words hadn’t _quite_  registered yet, the demand still bouncing around his head as the boy tried to grasp what they meant. The shock just wasn’t allowing him to register them properly though, and he was frozen stiff as his muscles just couldn’t seem to move.

Shiro was also frozen in place, his body tense and wound up tighter than a spring, eyes flickering between Keith and the television. He didn’t seem to quite register what was happening either, until the Garrison woman was back on the TV cautioning people to please turn over Keith Kogane if they had any contact with the individual and promising that he wouldn’t be hurt once he was turned over. The older brother didn’t waste any time then, immediately leaping forward and grabbing his younger brother, lifting the still frozen boy off his feet as he headed straight for the back door.

“Get the bags, we’re leaving.” Shiro commanded as he beelined for the door, “I’ll meet you all in the car, get ready. We’ll…”

He was cut off by loud banging.

“Come on out Kogane.” They all heard the sheriff’s voice as the man bangged harshlyy on the door, “Don’t pretend you ain’t heard the news. Ya’ll ‘ave been listening out for this stuff fer years. You know why I gotta take you in.”

“Holy shit.” Pidge quickly gathered her electronics while the rest of them grabbed the bags. Shiro wasted no time getting out of the house, putting his younger brother safely into the car before closing the door and helping others get the bags inside. They all hurried, the constant slamming on the door not helping their case at all. The door would burst any moment now, the bolts barely holding up.

“Hurry! They’ll get in any second now!” Hunk stressed, handing Matt the last bag before they closed the trunk, getting into the car hurriedly. During the chaos, Pidge somehow managed to connect her laptop to the local TV station, showing the news on her screen.

“Come on Hunk! Get in!” Matt urged while Shiro turned on the engine. The mechanic stopped in hesitancy, the image of his mother at the back of his mind. His entire family was here and he couldn’t leave them behind.

“Go on without me.” He said, closing the door of the car, “I can’t leave my family behind. I’m sorry.”

Matt and Pidge both looked up at him, understanding of his circumstances, “Okay. Stay safe Hunk.” Matt said while the other nodded, sending one last look of worry Keith’s way.

“Stay safe buddy. We’ll keep in touch.” He pat the roof of the car, letting Shiro know that it was clear for him to go. The car quickly reversed out of the garage, speeding out of the house before heading out onto the road.

Matt ushered Keith down to lower himself so that nobody would be able to see him from the outside. Pidge turned up the volume on her laptop, watching and listening as the Garrison woman appeared on screen once again. “If anyone has information on Keith Kogane, please call using the number shown on the screen.” Then the image of Keith popped up and Pidge could see that it was an image of Keith while they were still cadets in the garrison.

Keith is wearing his cadet uniform in the picture, five years younger, “This is the individual that the Alteans seek custody of. If you see him, please contact the Garrison immediately.” Pidge immediately took a screenshot, showing it to Shiro and Matt.

“Now we know which ‘Keith Kogane’ the aliens are searching for, and he’s right here with us in the car.” She turned her laptop to Keith, eyes landing on his ID photo that is in the Garrison’s records.

“Fuck.” Keith whispers, sinking into the seat further, trying to makes sure no one even had a chance to catch a glimpse of him. It probably wasn’t actually helpful, everyone in town knew he and Shiro are brothers, though they may not all be immediately aware of his last name so they had some time.

Matt threw a blanket over him anyway, shoving the emergency bags over him to make him look like the rest of the luggage. Keith, cut off from sigh, was forced to listen out for what was happening. The ride was smooth for a while, but then the telltale sound of sirens played through the air, and it didn’t take long for cursing to follow soon after. Suddenly the car was jerking, throwing his body against the bags as it started to bump. Shiro had driven off road, and was speeding across the desert recklessly.

Keith was pretty sure he was going to throw up, the car jerking and bumping too much for a guy hiding under a blanket without a seatbelt.

“Cut the lights!” Pidge called out from somewhere next to him.

“We won’t be able to see!” Matt called back.

“And _they_  won’t be able to see us.” Pidge snipped back.

It certainly didn’t _sound_  like they were losing the police, with the sound of sirens still playing through the air. Keith tried to brace himself and keep from being thrown around before he developed any more bruises, but he was thrown into the car door as Shiro made a particularly sharp turn.

“Jesus Christ Shiro!” Matt yelped, “Be careful!”

“I’m sorry. Did you want to drive?” Shrio called back with a bit more bite than he probably meant, “Because I’m trying to keep my little brother from ending up on an alien gladiator ring!”

“Guys! That’s a cliff! We’re heading towards a cliff!” Pidge called out, close to screaming.

“Good! Hold on!”

“Are you insane?!” Matt called out, screaming.

There were more screams, and suddenly the car wasn’t bumping around anymore, instead feeling strangely weightless as he flew up a bit. The car jerked a little later, and Keith’s head hit the car door harshly and the emergency bags practically punched him in the gut.

At least the sirens were gone.

“Ohhh Dio!” Pidge called out, “Nonna? Is that you? Am I dead?”

“I can’t believe you did that! You could have killed us!” Matt cried.

“Did you have a better plan?” Shiro sighed, “Keith, you can come out now.”

“W-awa! W-es!” Keith’s voice was muffled by the airbags, trying to free himself of both the bags and the blanket that was covering him. Pidge tried to reach out and help him, grabbing onto the blanket to pull it toward herself.

“You do realise that you’ve hurt Keith, right?” Pidge asked angrily, “That prince will have your head! He’ll come hunt you down Shiro, what will we do then!?”

“He’s _already_  hunting us down Pidge.” Shiro huffed, fighting the airbag with one hand and trying to get it off Keith. He managed and now, Keith finally emerged from under the mountain of bags, looking out the window to see the smoke that was all around them. They really were in the desert.

“Fuck.” Keith hissed.

“Exactly.” Pidge hit him lightly on the head, earning an ‘aww!’ from Keith, “You idiot! What did you do to piss off these aliens!? Don’t tell me you did something stupid and sent a threatening message into space. Oh _god_! You’d do something like that! Now they want your head over it!”

“What!? I never did anything like that.” Keith hissed, touching the spot Pidge had hit, “You were the only one that sent messages into space Pidge! You probably sent my name out of spite for eating your pizza that one time we decided to do an all-nighter!”

“How dare!” The girl hit him again, “Why would I send out your name into space!? If anything, I’d announce myself and tell the aliens how great I am!”

“Okay! Enough!” Matt got between the two, managing to successfully break them apart, “I have no idea how the aliens know about Keith, or why they’re after him, but for now we have to figure out where to rest for the night.” Or where they could go for that matter. The entire world was searching for them at the moment.

“We’ll need to stay out of cities and towns, anywhere where there are people.” Shiro thought out loud, “We’ll need to take refuge in the desert. How about your shack Keith? It’s a few ways away but if we continue driving, then we’ll manage to make it.”

“I don’t know Shiro.” Keith’s eyes moved to look at the large alien ship that was hovering above in the sky, shining brightly in the darkness of the night. During the day, keith could see most of the ship, but now at night, it gave the large cruiser a completely different feel. It felt mysterious, completely unknown to those underneath it.

“It’s okay Keith. I won’t let them get you, I swear it.” Shiro tightened his hold on the wheel, eyes trained on the darkness in front of them.

“We don’t know what the aliens even want with Keith. If they’re not the same aliens, then what if they’re really coming in peace?” Matt asked, knowing fully well that his soulmate wasn’t convinced.

“If they’re ready to destroy Earth just because we won’t hand over Keith then that means that they’re ready to use violence. I’m not about to hand over my little brother just like that. They’d have to kill me first.” Shiro’s voice was low.

“Okay I get that, but can we please talk about _why_  the aliens want this sorry ass?” Pidge wasn’t about to let this go, “Come on Keith, fess up. What did you do behind our backs?”

“I didn’t do shit.” Keith hissed, clenching his head between his hands, “You think I wouldn’t have told you if I had managed to piss off a bunch of aliens?”

“Well obviously you didn’t!” Pidge snapped, “Otherwise we wouldn’t be figuitives right now!”

“I don’t _know_  how they know about me! I didn’t do anything!” Keith threw his hands up in exasperation, “Maybe the Garrison threw them my way or something? I don’t know. All I know is that I didn’t do anything to contact aliens.”

“Alright! Calm down.” Shiro demanded from his place in the driver's seat, glaring back at the two of them in the rearview mirror, “It doesn’t matter how or why they’re after Keith, all that matters now is that we keep him safe.”

“And how are we going to do that Shiro? We can’t hide in the shack forever.” Matt stressed, “It won’t take long for them to narrow down where Keith has been, and once they know for sure than they’ll have the whole damn planet looking for us.”

“That’s why we’re not letting him leave the shack.” Shiro growled, “Well settle in the underground bunker too, if we have to, but first we need to get there. I’ll ditch the van once we stop.”

“Great.” Pidge huffed, throwing herself back against the seat, “So not only do we have to live in the bunker, but we’re also going to trapped there.”

“Welcome to a life as a fugitive.” Shiro hummed.

The rest of the drive was shadowed in tense silence. The wariness of their quick decision making and the horror of the situation settling over them as they realized there was nothing they could do for now. Even Pidge couldn’t gather information with her shoddy connection, and any attempt at questioning what had happened ended with them talking in confused circles.

By the time they reached the shack that had been a part of Keith’s former home the night had grown dangerously dark, and the alien ship was a blimp compared to what it was. Matt, Pidge and Keith filed out, grabbing the bags and unloading everything as Keith worked open the door.

“I’m getting rid of the van.” Shiro told them, “I’ll park it in a cave or something. I’ll be back soon. Get everything ready, we’ll be here for a while.”

With those parting words Shiro was gone, leaving the three of them to settle within the shack until he returned.

“Thanks Keith.” Pidge grumbled under her breath, “I can’t believe this.”

“I didn’t do anything Pidge. You really think I wouldn’t tell you?” Keith hissed back, narrowing his eyes as the two stared at each other. Matt, noticing the rising tension, broke the two apart.

“Why don’t we go inside and set up? We should have everything ready for when Shiro arrives.” He successfully managed to usher the two inside, separating them. Keith sighed, throwing himself onto the dusty couch. Meanwhile, Pidge took to setting up her laptop and electronics on the other side of the shack. Neither of them were looking forward to this, but then again, they’ll have their minds full with aliens to really care.

“Where are we even going to sleep?” Pidge grumbled, typing away.

“We have spare mattresses stored away. You’ll have to sleep on them.” Keith noted from the couch, earning a grumble from Pidge.

“And you get the couch? Nice.” She returned her attention onto her laptop, puttin on the news and raising the volume.

“-ogane still has not been found. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Keith Kogane please contact the Galaxy Garrison. Remember, be on the lookout for Keith Kogane and his known associates, adoptive brother Takashi Shirogane, Matthew Holt, and Katherine Holt.”

Pidge frowned at the screen, “They have all our old Garrison ID photographs spread over this.”

“Well, at least they’ll need a moment before they recognize you Pidge.” Matt winched, scratching the back of his head as he dropped one of the mattresses on the floor, “But Shiro is pretty distinct looking, and Keith really hasn’t changed since we left the Garrison.”

“We can dress ourselves up and go out for food and other supplies.” Pidge nodded, biting her thumb as she stared at the screen, “There’s no way for you to go out Keith, and Shiro is too noticeable.”

“No leaving the shack, got it.” Keith nodded, dropping down another mattress and pulling out the worn blankets from under the couch. That was it for the bedding, his old man hadn’t kept much else out here. And if they needed to use the bathroom than they’d need to build an outhouse.

The pale boy wrinkled his nose at that, already knowing that Pidge would hate the idea.

Shiro entered through the door with loud footsteps, rushing inside and slamming the door closed with a bang, locking it with the deadbolt before turning back to them, “I hid the van, and thankfully it looks like it’s going to rain, by the time the police back in town contact the Garrison it will be too late to track the tire tracks.”

“Good, we won’t have to run in the morning.” Matt sighed, he slumped against his makeshift bed, body going limp as he exhaled.

“We might still have to go.” Shrio shifted, “Once the Sheriff gets into contact with the Garrison and proves that, yes, Keith was living in that town and made a run for it than they’ll have narrowed the location down to this state.”

“Texas is huge as shit.” Matt waved, “And if we see anyone coming then we’ll run for the caves, no one will ever find us in there.”

“Unless they get the Native Americans around to help.” Pidge shrugged, “But I’ll doubt they’ll track us down that far.

Shiro walked in further, checking over the emergency bags they had piled into the corner. He unzipped them, checking their supply of food, “This should last us a few weeks if we’re careful, but then we’ll have to go out again.”

“About that.” Pidge looked up, eyeing here companions, “What’s the plan here? We can’t exactly stay in this shack forever, especially since you and Keith won’t be able to even leave without risk of satellites spotting us if they’re checking this particular area.”

“She’s right.” Matt stressed, “We never planned for the _whole damn world_  to be after us.”

Shiro frowned deeply, the question obviously as difficult for him as it was for everyone else in the room. Keith shifted a bit, his stomach churning with guilt as he watched his brother’s face fall. Pidge was right, this wasn’t a good situation, and their best plan right now wasn’t an entirely good one, especially since it required both he and Shiro to never leave from under this roof unless Pidge was _sure_  no one could spot them. Even then it was risky for her to keep hacking for information. She may be amazing, but now she had the collective efforts of the entire world against her.

“We’ll just have to be _very_  smart about this.” Shrio straightened up, his jaw firm. “Keith, no leaving from under this roof without a sun hat or something to hide your face. No phone calls unless Pidge confirmed its safe, no going into town unless we really need to and we’re disguised, no credit cards, and nothing that can be tracked.”

“It’s a good thing we all ditched our cellphones.” Matt sighed.

“You did, I was just smart enough to make sure no one could trace my location.” Pidge hummed.

“The rule still stands, we can’t afford any slip ups.” Shrio sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly, “Now get some sleep everyone, we’ll try to figure this out more in the morning.”

“Thanks again Keith.” Pidge said before tuning to her laptop again, typing away while seating herself on her assigned mattress. The pale boy frowned but this time decided to ignore her baiting. Instead he let himself fall on the couch again, looking up at the window to see the dark sky above him. There were many stars shining brightly among the dark, but right now, they seemed as foreign to him as ever before.

His eyes moved onto the alien ship in the distance, wondering why exactly the aliens are looking for him.

 

* * *

 

The water was parting before him as he swam, submerged with his eyes closed, trying to focus on the single string of a connection he has with his soulmate. Lance let his body float, his body surrounded by water while his mind drifted back to the world of darkness, a single red strand that represented his soulmate floating in the air.

He reached out to touch it, trying to feel the weak connection they both had. However, no matter how hard he tried to focus, no connection would be established. He’d been trying for hours now, and even if he came to the pool to clear his mind, nothing was helping his frustration.

Blue eyes opened, swimming back up to the surface and taking in a deep breath once he had the air. Lance panted, holding onto the side of the Altean pool while trying to steady himself. Nothing happened, _nothing_ at all.

It was frustrating and he was getting desperate. Hours had passed since his addressing of the inhabitants of this planet but Keith was _still_  nowhere to be seen. He should have known Keith would run away because _he_  himself told him that he would.

Hitting the side of the pool, Lance made his way out, covering himself with a towel before the door of the room opened, revealing Allura on the other side. Allura and him were a lot alike, no wonder there since they’re siblings, but when it comes to their personalities, they were worlds apart.

Allura is a calm and diplomatic woman, while Lance is outspoken and not as into politics or diplomacy as his sister. They were strong in fields the other was weak in, making each other stronger.

“Any news?” Lance asked, drying himself with his towel while Allura shook her head.

“I’m afraid not. The humans can’t seem to find him.” She looked up at her brother, “It may be because you’ve threatened them that they’re having a hard time.”

“I did it to protect him.” Lance pulled on the towel, hand clenched tightly against it, “If they knew, they would hurt Keith. I can’t let that happen.”

“Still, we should have approached the situation in another way. I know you both planned this, but I’m left to question if he’ll remember anything at all like he promised.” Allura watched as her brother walked over to the dressing area, changing his clothes behind an Altean curtain.

“Keith keeps his promises. I trust him. It’s the waiting that’s getting to me.” If he could, he would go down himself. “I’ll keep trying to re-establish a connection. It’s night so he should be asleep already.”

“This may be more difficult than you believe Lance.” Allura stepped forward, “He’s aware of you in the waking world now. He may try to flee you in your dreams now.”

“It’s the only way I can find him quickly.” Lance moved to dry himself, “I’ll just have to be very convincing and get him to remember before he wakes up. If I can get him to tell me where he is then we can solve the whole issues quickly.”

“I wish you luck then.” Allura nodded, “But I still caution you to be careful, and perhaps a bit more tactful, in the future. I believe the inhabitants of this planet are in quite in panic now.”

“We’ll do more than enough to repay them when we make our alliance.” Lance promised. He took a few steps forward, moving past his sister as he set on the path towards his bedroom, “I just have to find Keith first. That is priority for now.”

And he was gone, his destination set and mission well within his mind.

He’d find Keith, even if he has to search every rock and cavern on the planet. Then they could finally, finally, be together without the other forgetting him when he woke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Guess who just got back from SuperCon and met Kim and Josh? This gal!!!! Here is our gift on this blessed day. See my tumblr for the vid of the Q&A.
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: Our third fanfic featuring Altean!Lance! Ahhhh... I finally got a chance to draw him. Hope you like the story and thank you for all your support if you read our other works!
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	2. A Thin Connection

Keith’s eyes slowly opened, spotting an endless sea of stars above him. He blinked, pushing himself up, noting the space he was in. The giant eclipse in the sky startled him, making him yelp in fright as he tried to push himself away.

He felt his heartbeat increase, confused as to where he was and how he managed to get here in the first place. “Keith.” And that’s when a voice called out to him, turning to spot a lone figure standing in the distance. The person frowned, taking a step forward, “There’s nothing to be worried about. I’m here to help you.”

“S-Stay away!” Keith stood up, hand hovering above his blade.

That made the figure stop, looking at him with blue eyes that had something akin to hurt within them. Keith was wary, remaining in place while keeping his eyes on the person in front of him. “You have to tell me where you are. You said you’d most likely run away and you were right. I really can’t wait that long Keith. I want to see you so badly.”

The pale boy took out his blade, pointing it at the man, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you!?”

“You _know_  that already. Just don’t wake up before you can fully remember it.” The person took another step forward despite Keith holding up his weapon.

“Don’t come any closer! I’m warning you!” Keith raised his blade in warning but the person didn’t seem to listen, approaching him slowly but steadily.

“I’ll have you say it this once before you forget again. I want to hear it.” The person was toi close for Keith’s comfort now, only about a meter two meters away.

He was within sight now, and Keith could make out his features. From the stark white hair to the deep blue eyes, all the way down to the pointed ears. It took a moment for the pale boy to recognize him, but once he did the identity of the stranger was obvious.

“It’s you.” Keith hissed, taking a step backwards as he grabbed his knife more tightly, “You’re that alien prince from the news.”

The prince held his hands up in a gesture of peace, “Yes, it’s me Keith. I came for you.”

There was a nagging itch in his head at the words, like he’d heard them before. He did, didn’t he, yeah, the prince must have said them before. A few minutes ago maybe? No.

He gripped his forehead, backing away as the itch continued to nag, “Why are you after me? What did I do to offend you or your people?”

“Keith, no.” The prince shook his head, “You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m not here to punish you. I promised to find you, remember? It’s me, Lance, and I’m here to find you.”

Yeah, yeah, that was right. His name was Lance, and he came here to find him.

Violet eyes narrowed at the prince, “Y-Yeah, you’re...Lance…”

“That right.” Blue eyes brightened, the prince taking an excited step forward as he held out his arms and gestured to himself, “I’m Lance, we’ve met before.”

“You’re Lance.” Keith nodded, the name feeling right, “And...and...you’re...you’re my…”

What was Lance again? Keith had to think about it for a moment. He felt a pang at the sight of the princes’ open arms, and a memory flashed. The royal hadn’t always been so open, had he? The first time this happened he’d screamed and pushed Keith away.

...The first time?...

“We’ve...we’ve done this before…” Keith realizes, “We’ve done this before! That’s why you’re after me!”

“I’m not after you.” The prince huffed but kept his arms opened nonetheless, “I’m _looking for you_. There’s a big difference in the wording right there. I’m not here to hurt you or to do anything you wouldn’t like. The only thing I want is to finally meet you in the physical world, and I know you want the same thing. You told me you wanted this as well.” 

“I did?” Keith quirked a brow, his head trying to sort out through the mess.

“You did.” Lance confirmed, “I’m Lance, remember? We’ve done this before.”

It really did feel to like he was here before, and with Lance by his side. It was vague, but some foggy stretch of memories with the alien prince were coming back to him. His eyes widened with realisation, lowering the blade completely as he faced the other.

He raised up his and, taking a step forward. “You’re my…”

Keith’s eyes suddenly snapped wide open, sitting up on the couch as he coughed. He was wet all over, spotting Pidge hovering above him with an empty plastic bottle of water. “Pidge! What the hell!”

“I’m still salty Kogane. Don’t tempt me.” She walked away, placing the empty bottle on the table, “You looked like you were having another nightmare so I was helping you out.”

“Like this!?” Keith pointed to himself in emphasis, “You know that we can’t waste water out here in the middle of a desert! Are you insane!?”

“Not as insane as somebody who pissed off aliens, and managed to get us all into this deep shit.” Pidge hissed back, the two glaring at one another with narrowed eyes.

“Alright you two! Cut it out!” Shiro sat up in his mattress, barely managing to yawn before facing the two, “Pidge, I know this situation isn’t idea but we have to make with what we have at hand.”

“I’m not pissed about that Shiro.” The girl sat down on her mattress, “I’m just pissed we’re not talking about _why_  the aliens are after us. The whole situation doesn’t make any sense and I don’t see anyone trying to understand it. Especially Keith, _who_  the aliens are looking for.”

“How the hell do you want me to react Pidge?” Keith growled, whipping his face, “I have no fucking clue why they’re after me. If I did I would have told you.”

“You have to have done _something_  Keith, otherwise how would an alien species even know about you?” Pidge growled, “Fess up. This isn’t funny anymore.”

“I wish I had something to tell you Pidge.” The pale boy growled again, moving to lean his elbows against his knees as he glared at the girl, “Trust me, I do, but I don’t have a fucking clue. You think I’m not freaked out about this? An alien prince is out to get me and I don’t have a clue why or how they found out about me. So if you can quit acting like an asshole for ten minutes than I’d really appreciate it.”

Shiro threw himself up then, moving off his mattress and standing between the two with his arms held out, “Alright, that’s enough! We’re all tired and stressed, but that is _no_  reason to turn on each other.”

“Yeah guys.” Matt stood up, rubbing his eyes, “Stop yelling. We’re all stressed here.”

“Sorry I’m trying to get answers.” Pidge crossed her arms, huffing, “It’s not like a prince personally going after Keith is cause for concern or anything.”

“I don’t know why he’s trying to find me.” Keith threw his hands up, “Trust me Pidge, no one wants to know more than me. If you’ve got any theories on why Lance is after me than I would love to hear them.”

“I got some.” The girl placed her laptop to the side, facing him with folded arms, “One, you sent out a message into space and managed to piss off the aliens. Two, you somehow managed to make contact with them without even telling me about it, which by the way, I would be _pissed_  about. Three, you found something the aliens want, which, I would be also _pissed about_.”

“Okay!” Keith threw his hands up higher, “You can’t be serious about this Pidge! Are you _really_  trying to tell me that I wouldn’t tell you if I saw _any_  alien whatsoever? Now I’m _pissed_  that you think I would do something like that behind your back.”

“Those are the only plausible theories as to why we may have found ourselves in this mess. You can’t tell me otherwise Kogane! All of this happened too fast and I still can’t get my head around it. What do you expect me to do? Just sit here and accept it for what it is?”

“How do you think I feel then!? You’re not the one they want!” Keith fought back, the both of them getting heated again before Shiro stopped their argument from escalating further.

“Alright! That’s enough!” He raised his voice, both Pidge and Keith startled by how low it was. They sat back down in their places while Shiro stood between, hands on his hips, “I don’t want to see you two arguing anymore. Instead of fighting amongst each other, we should be focusing on understanding what exactly happened. Now that we’re stuck here, we need answers.” He turned to Pidge, “I know you’re confused Pidge, but believe me, we all feel the same way.”

The girl shrugged, looking away.

“Now then, let’s talk about the ‘whys’ during breakfast. Who wants coffee?” Shiro asked, and both Keith and Pidge replied in an immediate ‘yes’. The older of the two got to work, making four coffee cups for all of them.

Matt sighed, deciding to help Shiro with the breakfast.

Keith’s eyes followed him as he joined Shiro, but then moved onto Pidge, narrowing as she stared right back at him. They both stared at one another, tension high between them. Pidge rolled her eyes before turning to her laptop, but just as she did, her eyes began to glow a green colour, making Keith flinch.

Pidge’s eyes turned green with the glow, frozen in her position. She was still as a statue, and for what she was doing, Keith imagined that she would need to be. Soul connection; that’s what was happening.

When a person is sharing the sight of their soulmate, their eyes turn the colour of their significant other, and in Pidge’s instance, her soulmate has green eyes. The pale boy looked away, feeling a pang of longing wash over him. He never experienced a soul connection before and he knew that he likely never will.

“My soulmate thinks that maybe we should consider negotiating.” Pidge’s voice sounded, prompting Keith to look back at her. The glow in her eyes ceased and now, she began typing a message of her own.

It was a system of communication that she and her soulmate agreed on. Soulmates are able to share their senses but they couldn’t exactly communicate with one another. Well, that wasn’t the case for Pidge and her soulmate who were clever enough to think of writing to each other. They borrow the eyesight of the other before showing them their written message. Quite clever if you ask Keith.

“Negotiate what?” Matt asked, brewing some coffee over in the corner and pulling out some jerky for their pitiful breakfast, “They want Keith, we can’t exactly cut him in half and give half of him over to them.”

“I refuse to give _any_  part of Keith over to them.” Shiro spoke firmly, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation between them, “Who knows what they would do to him?”

“Yeah, I thought not.” Pidge sighed, rubbing her forehead, “But maybe we could use my soulmate to figure out what the Alteans want? Have them do some digging and whatnot? Maybe if we know why they want Keith, then we can plan around this.”

Keith shrugged, “It’s a better plan than we’ve had so far.”

“Risky though.” Shiro rubbed his chin, “How sure are you they won’t turn on us Pidge?”

“Pretty certain.” Pidge nodded confidently, “I know their social security number, they would never betray me.”

“Then at least we’ll have some information soon.” Matt nodded, pulling out the pot of coffee and settling it on the one table in the room. He poured himself a generous amount before taking a long swing. Once he had his fix, the man turned back towards them, “So...now what?”

“We could check the news.” Shiro shrugged, “Gather intel and see how close they are to finding us.”

“And take stock.” Keith put in, “Make sure we don’t starve.”

“Not much else to do other than that, huh?” Matt sighed heavily, staring into his coffee cup. “I miss TV already. There’s nothing to do out here.”

“Then it’s a good thing you all have me. I seriously don’t know what you’d do without me.” Pidge began to type, pulling up a broadcast of the news and letting it play on speakers of her laptop.

An image of a studio appeared, showing two news anchors as well as some of the Garrison officials with them. They were all seated on chairs, updating the public about recent news. “So Keith Kogane hasn’t been found yet?” A woman asked one of the garrison officials..

“As of yet we do not have custody of Keith Kogane. We’ve received reports that his last known location was in a small town in Texas, which means that we’ll be focusing all of our efforts in that ares. However, due to rain, we won’t be able to track tire tracks he may have left behind.”

“Does that change anything in regards to the aliens?” The other anchor asked, “Do they see this as our unwillingness to cooperate with them? And if so, do you think Earth is in danger of being attacked?”

“We know that the Alteans are frustrated by the lack of results. However, we have also informed them we are still in the process of recovering Keith Kogane. They know we are currently trying to locate him, thus an attack on our planet is unlikely, at least at this point in time.”

“And do we know something about this Keith Kogane? Who is he?” Another question was asked.

“Keith Kogane was a former cadet of the Galaxy Garrison, but due to discipline issues he was disbanded and let go. We do not know why the royal family wants him, but we do believe that it may have something to do with his ties to the Garri-” Keith flinched, turning to look at Pidge and her phone which started to ring.

The girl took out her phone, frowning as she turned the screen to Keith. “Looks like your ex wants to know how you’re doing.” Violet eyes landed on Rolo’s name displayed on the screen, surprised to see him calling.

The news about all this must have spread around so it would explain how Rolo would know about it. He probably tried calling Keith’s phone first but since Keith didn’t have his phone with him, he couldn’t answer anything. Since the both of them were super close and intimate, Keith trusted Rolo with Pidge’s number. He must have figured that her phone would work, because the girl always keeps her electronics at hand and functional.

“Don’t answer it Pidge.” Keith frowled, eyes locked on the screen, “Let that shit go to voicemail. Then delete that shit. I don’t want to hear from _him_.”

Matt winched, “Damn, I could taste that salt from here. Is that who I think it is?”

“Yes.” Pidge and Keith both hissed. Pidge, wonderful friend she is, hit the call swiped to reject the call, making the ringing stop. She then promptly went to her contact and blocked the number, proving to Keith once and for all why she was his best friend.

“You didn’t give anyone else my number, right?” Pidge asked, turning towards Keith.

“Only Hunk, and he’s not going to risk calling for a while. He’s probably a person of interest to the Garrison right now if they’ve tracked down what town we lived in.”

“Right.” Pidge nodded. Then she huffed, puffing out her cheeks like an angry hamster, “That guy has a lot of nerve calling us after the shit he pulled with you.”

Keith scolded, crossing his arms as he glared at the phone. He had enough shit to deal wit without knowing that _Rolo_  was looking for him, or maybe the Garrison had tracked him down and asked him to try and make contact. Well, the Garrison was pretty damn stupid if they thought going to his ex was going to work, especially after Rolo dumped him in the middle of a date when his soulmate finally made contact. Asshole even left Keith in the restaurant to pay for their dinners by himself, without a ride home, after he was rightfully pissed.

“This is a good sign though.” Shiro moved to sit next to Keith, placing a hand on the younger brother’s shoulder and giving a comforting squeeze, “If he’s calling because of the Garrison then that means they’re desperate and can’t find any other leads on us.”

“Or he could be calling because he wants to convince Keith to turn himself over so the aliens don’t blow us all up.” Matt put in, sipping at his coffee.

“A plan he clearly didn’t think through.” Keith spit, “Then again, he doesn’t think through a lot of things.”

Shiro grimaced at that, giving Keith’s shoulder yet another comforting squeeze. The younger boy appreciated the gesture, he really did, but Rolo and the way he’d been dumped would always be a sore spot. So the raven haired boy turned to distract himself with the news feed.

“-was a brilliant pilot. Recruited by the Takashi Shirogane himself. Unfortunately, the boy had a bit of a temper. He was a troubled foster child, you see, and I speculate he may have been rescued from a bad home when Shirogane took him in. He finally lost his temper once the two Kerberos survivors returned to Earth with claims that Head Scientist of the mission, Samuel Holt, was taken by alien lifeforms. Kogane firmly believed in their claims, and assaulted his Commanding Officer when the man suggest institutionalizing them.” One of Keith’s former Garrisons instructors explained, pushing up her glasses as she spoke.

“Seems they were right after all.” The news anchor laughed awkwardly.

“So it would seem.” The instructor nodded, “From what we have gathered, the Alteans are not the same species that captured Samuel Holt. However, we still have not their focus on Keith Kogane leads us to believe-”

Keith couldn’t listen anymore. He turned away, disgusted, “Great, fantastic, I love the idea of everyone knowing my personal history.”

“That’s what happens when the whole world is after you.” Pidge went ahead and tried searching for information online to see what the Garrison already gathered on them. Many people were already making comment threads, helping each other narrow down Keith’s location. It was frightening just how intuitive people on the internet were because they’ve already managed to narrow it down to the small town they lived in.

“What do we do now?” Matt sat beside his sister, sipping on his coffee, “Staying here is nice and all, but it’ll do us no good in the long run.”

“You’re right.” And Pidge agreed with him, “From what we know, these aliens aren’t the same ones as those who attacked you on Kerberos, which gives us some hope that they may not be as violent.” The bright light of her screen reflected against her glasses, deep in thought.

“I know you might be against this Shiro, but I really think we don’t have any other choice. We can’t hide from the aliens and the rest of our planet for long. We have to take action here.” She looked up at the other, hoping he would understand what she means by it.

The older man remained tense, hands folded as he thought about the severity of their situation. Pidge was right, and he knew it, but he didn’t have it in him to give up his little brother. Then again, he knew that the last thing Pidge would do is hand over Keith. “What do you suggest?”

“We won’t be handing over Keith, at least not for now.” Pidge began typing again, “But we _have_  to take some form of action here. My plan is this; we establish a communication line with the aliens or the Garrison and state our terms. I’ll secure the line so that it’s untraceable, we can be safe knowing that they won’t find us. We talk to them and find out what the hell is going on.”

The rest of the group took their time to think it through, and for the moment, that seemed to be the best plan. “I agree, as long as the signal is untraceable.” Shiro nodded, meeting Pidge’s hazel eyes.

“They won’t, trust me. When have I ever failed you?” She began working on hiding the signal of her devices, triple checking to ensure that even the Garrison’s highest tech won’t be able to find them.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe this morning?” Keith hissed, “You spilled water on a sleeping man.”

“Suck it up Keith. I was helping you out.” The girl ignored him in favour of working her magic. Keith looked away as well, turning to the window to see nothing but desert stretching for miles away. They were literally in the middle of nowhere, but despite that, Keith could feel something strange in the air.

Perhaps it was because of the alien presence, but he is able to sense some form of energy nearby.

“Shiro, you better prepare your speech. When I’m done setting this up, you’ll be the one to take to the stage.” Pidge sipped on her coffee, Shiro nodding and leaning against his mattress.

Once they contact the Garrison, the first thing he’ll ask is _why_  the aliens are after his little brother.

 

* * *

 

Lance couldn’t find it in himself to sleep last night. Time passed by too quickly for his liking as he was trying to establish a connection with his soulmate, having all but a single successful attempt before their connection was cut.

There was some progress, but all of it will be lost once Keith wakes up. It’s most likely that Keith already forgot all about him. It wouldn’t be surprising if he did.

Lance was seated by a window of one of their cruisers, looking down onto the home planet of his soulmate. Earth was beautiful and it reminded him a lot of planet Altea. They were both alike, harbouring beautiful oceans, along with majestic mountains that stretched over continents.

However, even though both of their homes had a lot of similarities, there were differences as well. Instead of stone showers that rained from the sky, humans had water raining down on them instead. It was beautiful and Lance found himself loving this aspect of Earth.

Earth was beautiful and yet all he could think about was finding his soulmate. Even now while looking down at the vast planet, he had his eyes closed, trying to establish a connection. He felt his tired body leaning against the wall, eyes parting to look down at the planet below him.

He closed them again, trying to connect to his mate, so desperate in his attempts. Among the darkness, he saw a glimpse of the red thread that symbolised his soulmates presence within his consciousness. He reached out to it, touching the fragile thread.

It was then that he finally got a breakthrough. Varying images from his soulmate began coursing through him, eyes widening as he watched, violet barely mixing with his own blue colour.

He saw it.

A small town in the desert.

A strange looking place with what looked like those things humans called ‘cars’ all around.

Then a human’s face. He faintly heard Keith’s voice say ‘Hunk’ before the image quickly changed.

An escape car.

Fleeting the small town.

At this moment the influx of images stopped, and Lance found himself panting soon after, eyes wide as the tint of violet colour disappeared, leaving his orbs a pure blue colour. This was it! What he saw might not have been what Keith saw in real time, but a few pieces of what he’d seen before. Their connection was fragile but it was slowly beginning to catch up.

Lance threw himself up, running over to Allura who was in the bridge. The door opened with a hiss, and Lance walked inside almost too quickly, “I know where he is! Or where he was, I don’t know, but I have a location! I’m going down there to look for him myself!”

“What?” Allura turned to him in a startle, “What do you mean?”

“A connection! I must go to this town in… Texas? There’s this human named Hunk I must find. He knows where Keith is! I have to talk to him!” Lance made his way up, joining Allura at the centre.

“By yourself? No, that’s too dangerous.” The idea of her only brother exposing himself to danger like that wasn’t something Allura was willing to risk.

“It’s not if I become one of them. The humans wouldn’t notice it’s me, even if they remembered me from my TV appearance.” Lance turned to the screen, trying to search for the small town he saw in his vision. He had a bit of trouble finding it, but eventually he found what he thought was the town Keith was in before fleeing. This was where he has to go.

“This is the place?” Allura asked, turning to him, “It’s severely underdeveloped compared to other cities we saw around this planet. Apart from the Garrison troops, the town seems to harbour only a small population of people.

“The world is searching for Keith to evade doom. They’ll be flocking there as soon as the humans spread information that he was in the area.” And it’ll become even more dangerous for Keith that way. Even if he’s hiding, sooner or later, somebody will find him. That means that he’ll have to ensure that he meets Keith before any of those people could. Even worse… what if a Galra scout finds him first?

“We should send out our troops.” Allura noted, moving to contact their troops before Lance stopped her, grabbing her hand.

“We don’t have to make this worse than it already is. Keith is shaken and out of himself. Any more pressure and he might do something unreasonable. Let me handle this. I know he’ll listen to me when we meet face to face.”

“But that still leaves you at a risk. What if the humans turn on you instead?” Allura was firm on her position.

“You know they won’t.” Lance assured, squeezing their hand, “I’ll blend in. You know how it works.”

The princess’s eyes lowered, clear in her hesitation. She felt Lance squeeze her hand again, desperate. “You know how much this means for me.” His voice was soft as he spoke, “I finally have a chance to meet him after years of searching.”

“I know.” She saw firsthand how desperate her little brother was. The longing in him was clear, and while Allura found her own soulmate, she could tell that Lance would always look at the others from the sidelines. Watching as soulmates danced in the ballroom, relishing in their bond and presence.

Lance never had that, and now, he finally has a chance to experience it as well.

“Alright, but you’ll have to stay in touch.” Her words made Lance smile widely.

“Thank you Allura, I mean it.” He let go of her, gaze moving to look at the image of humans that was displayed on their screen. He closed his eyes, focusing as his body began to transform. His white hair turned a brown colour, ears rounding and changing shape. His Altean marks remains throughout when his transformation was done, opening his eyes again to examine his new appearance.

“What do you think?” He turned around, letting his sister examine his new look.

“Their ears are hideous.” Allura shrugged, pulling on Lance’s ear.

“Ow-Ow! Stop that.” He bat her hand away, “I think they’re cute.”

“A biased opinion.” The princess teased as her brother held onto his poor abused ear.

“Whatever you say.” He traced his hand along the marks on his face, feeling that it might be a problem, “I’ll need to hide these somehow.”

“Leave that to me.” Allura pulled out a device, scanning Lance’s marks before they completely disappeared. They didn’t ‘disappear’ completely, but are concealed under a protective layer placed on top of them. Even if they manage to glow, the humans won’t be able to notice them. “Now you’re a true human.” She eyed Lance up and down, taking in the new look.

“Perfect. Nobody will notice me now. Pfft! I had no idea what you were worrying about before.” Lance turned to head out, “Now then, I’ll need to fly out and land somewhere near the little town. I’ll keep in touch.”

“Be careful Lance.” Allura warned, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Keep in contact and do _not_  let anyone find out who you are. It won’t take Galra scouts long to figure out where we are. Keep your presence undermined and do not draw attention to yourself.”

“When do I ever?” Lance scoffed.

“Lance.” Allura’s tone was thick with warning, “I’m trusting you to stay stealthy.”

Lance frowned at the seriousness in her tone, knowing that it wouldn’t take much to change her mind about the mission or call it off. Under less desperate circumstances she wouldn’t be letting him go alone at all. He had to go now and get to the town before she could change her mind.

“Don’t worry Allura.” He said, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, “I won’t draw attention to myself. I’ll report in as soon as I find this ‘Hunk’ and locate Keith. I promise.”

Allura untensed a little, giving him a soft, fond, look as she returned the squeeze, “Stay safe Lance.”

“Of course I will.” Lance smiled, “And when I come back I’ll have my soulmate with me, just you wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Boy howdy. How 'bout that season 7 controversy? Welp, asolde JK taught us, fanon is better than canon. We're stil, golden here. XD
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: We're officially divorcing canon content. Lance and Keith are soulmates and nobody can tell me otherwise.
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	3. A Calling

Keith was fidgeting in his sleep, his head moving from side to side while his hand was clutching onto the blanket tightly. It wasn’t one of those usual dreams he always has of the strange astral plane, but instead another, showing him in the line of fire of an alien cruiser.

The large ship was purple in colour, bright purple lines glowing around the ship. He saw smaller fighter jets emerge from it, shooting at the town he lived in and settling it ablaze. Keith’s breath hitched, stunned by the sight. “N-No… No!” He yelled before running to the flames. He had to save them… Pidge, Shiro, Matt, and Hunk… They were all there in the fire. 

Keith’s path was cut when a fighter plane suddenly shot in front of him, making him fall onto the ground. Keith quickly pushed himself so that he could look up at the fighter class ship, eyes wide and bracing himself for the shot.

The fighter was about to shoot him dead on before another shot took it down, the fighter crashing somewhere beside Keith but still not a short distance away so that it would hurt him. Keith looked up, startled, staring to the side to notice a huge mechanical red lion standing on the edge of a cliff. It’s eyes were glowing a yellow colour, growling before taking down more ships.

He felt hope with the appearance of the red lion, but that soon vanished when more of those purple cruisers appeared, shooting down where he was. He was defenceless as shots rained down on him, one inevitably hitting him before his eyes snapped wide open, waking from sleep.

He found himself back in the shack, covered with a blanket and a bright sun that was shining outside. He remembers taking a nap and then the dream and… and… Keith tensed when he felt a strange sensation pass through him, strange images suddenly coming into his mind.

Aliens… but this time they were Alteans.

The inside of an alien ship.

Water was all around him, swimming within it. 

A face of a woman, an Altean woman with white hair.

Planet Earth from up above one of those ships. Everything looked so small.

His eyes had a slight blue colour within them, with a minimal glow. However, the blue in his eyes slowly began to vanish, along with the visions that began to retreat.   

Violet eyes blinked open as Keith straightened out for where he was leaned against the coffee table. He blinked away his blurry vision and stared around the small room. Pidge was up, still typing away at her laptop. She was letting out frustrated noises, and one of her extra batteries was already outside her bags. The lack of electricity being only one of the many downsides to living in the shack.

The middays sun shone through the window, thick rays of sunlight pierced through the air, serving as the strongest lightsource in the room. Matt was curled up on his mattress, an old book in his hands that he must have found somewhere in dad’s old boxes of junk. Shiro was trying pitifully at sleep as well, seeming only a little more successful than Keith had been.

“Have you opened communication yet Pidge?” Keith asked, rubbing his eyes as he stretched out. He cracked his neck, trying to ease out the pain in his shoulders.

“I’m trying to make sure they won’t be able to track our signal first.” Pidge informed, eyes narrowing at the screen.

Keith deflated a bit, forced to accept the frustrating answer. He fell back against the couch, letting his head fall back as he fell back into boredom. There was nothing to do here, especially if he couldn’t even go outside. Which left him with no way to pass the time except trying to nap some more.

“I have to piss.” Keith sighed.

“Go out the window.” Matt answered, flipping another page in his book.

“That’s fucking gross Matt.” Pidge wrinkled her nose, voice heavy with disgust.

“He can’t exactly leave the house.” Matt pointed out unhelpfully.

“Just hold it Keith. I’ll be done in a few minutes. Then you can go out again.” Pidge demanded, her voice filled with renewed determination, probably realizing only now that when she ran into a similar problem she _wouldn’t_  have as easy a time going out the window.

Keith shrugged, just satisfied he had unintentionally helped move things along just a bit faster.

 

* * *

 

There was sand in the air as it blew, and Lance found it extremely uncomfortable to walk around in the clothes he was in. They were clothes that fit in with the customs of this planet, a simple blue pants that the humans called ‘jeans’, along with snickers, a white and blue t-shirt, and a green jacket. Although he quickly discarded the said jacket in favour of helping himself cool down. The heat was excruciating, but it wasn’t something Lance hadn’t experienced before. 

One time he had to accompany his father, Alfor, to a desert planet covered in sand. The heat had been unbearable back then, so much so that it made the heat of this planet a bit more bearable. That isn’t to say that Lance wasn’t hot though, because he was _boiling_.

He managed to make it into town easily, one of his fellow Alteans dropping him off into the desert before he ventured out to the town. The walk was treacherous but once he made it, he found himself surrounded by humans on all sides.

They all had rounded ears and clothing that looked similar to his. Although their clothes seemed to be more airy, adjusted to the desert environment that surrounded them. Clearly Lance should have thought about this issue sooner because if he had, he would choose lighter clothing.

He looked around, spotting Garrison officers walking around the streets holding guns in their hands. Trying to ignore them, Lance focused on the shops that were around. From the few visions he had, he tried to make out the specific car shop he saw.

He saw a shop he thought was it at the end of the road, fastening his pace before finding himself in front of the said establishment. This was _it_. He felt excitement take root in his chest, entering and searching for the human named Hunk.

“What’re you doing here punk!?” Lance turned when he heard someone address him, spotting an older grumpy looking man staring at him with narrowed eyes. “You better have a car to fix! Otherwise I’m throwing you out!”

“C-Car?” Lance asked, confused, “O-Oh! Nope! I’m here looking for someone. Do you know where I can find Hunk?”

The man narrowed his eyes further, “If you’re not here to give us a job and cash then scram! We’re a serious business here, not a place for youngsters to hang out!”

Blue eyes blinked, the royal flinching back at the man’s aggressiveness. Even the members of the Garrison hadn’t been so snappish with him. Although, come to think of it, that may be because he was threatening them.

“Please sir.” Lance held his hands, “This is _really_  important. Is Hunk here?”

“He ain’t here youngin.” The man snarled, “I put him on leave until they track down Kogane. Don’t need any more people flooding my garage looking for that little punk. Its losing me good business, it is. I knew that punk was trouble as soon as I saw him I did. Should have never hired him. He may do wonders with engines, but it ain’t worth the nonsense he brought along.”

Lance frowned, feeling a spark of defensive rage on Keith’s behalf. Clearly his soulmate had been too good for this pitiful shop. The royal had half a mind to snap at the man, but he’d promised Allura he wouldn’t draw attention to himself, so he kept his cool.

“So Hunk isn’t here then?” Lance asked with a sigh.

“You best go looking elsewhere for answers youngin. Ain’t neither Kogane or Garrett here.” The man made a showing noise, “Now scram. I’ve had enough of folk like you coming in and slowing down business.”

The tanned boy huffed, stomping out of the building in frustration. That lead was a dead end, but at least he was certain he was in the right town now. It was an incredibly small place, and it shouldn’t take long to track down who he was looking for. If what the man said was any indication then Lance simply needed to find where the Garrison soldiers were most heavily guarded in the town.

With a firm nod, Lance set out to do just that. He weaved through the crowd silently, eyeing the soldiers as they passed by. It didn’t take him long to trail them where he wanted to go.

In a part of the town that seemed strictly for homes, the soldiers were heavily guarding a particularly small building. People were weaving in and out of it in swarms, Garrison soldiers walking out carrying armfuls of things with them. It must have been Keith’s home, Lance figured. It was somewhat uncomfortable seeing them so casually invading his soulmates privacy, but the knowledge he was _so close_  comforted him.

If that was Keith’s home then Hunk surely had to be nearby somewhere he just had to look…

There!

Lance spotted the man nearby, heading into the opposite direction of the house. The royal gleefully trailed after the boy, determined to catch up and finally find the answers he so desperately wanted.

He tried following Hunk without the other knowing first, hoping that if he did that, he would be able to find out where his soulmate was. Besides, talking about it out in the open won’t give Hunk a chance to say anything as to where Keith might be.

The bulkier man walked down into what seemed like a market, entering into an airconditioned shop. Lance followed him, face to face with what looked like the human’s main source of food and water in this area. The shelves were stacked with various types of foods and drinks and he found himself particularly interested in a fishtank he saw, excitedly looking over the fish as if he was a small kid.

“They’re nice fish.” A voice suddenly startled him, turning to spot none other than Hunk by his side. The Altean jumped in fright, clearing his throat with a blush on his cheek.

“Y-Yeah. They’re unique.” He tried to sound composed but Lance being Lance, he had to ask, “They’re super cool. I’ve never seen fish this colourful. Are they born this way?”

Hunk quirked a brow, tilting his head to the side, “They’re Koi fish man, they’re known for being really colourful. Never seen them before?”

Lance shook his head, “Nope. This is my first tim-” He froze, suddenly realising that he may have said something wrong. Do all humans know of this Koi fish? What if it was common knowledge? He had a feeling that he was already messing up, “Actually! I saw them before. I can’t help but get excited every time. They’re cool, just like me.” He tried to lean on a nearly shelf, but ended up making the entire thing fall down on the ground. Luckily the shelf was holding ketchup, all packaged in plastic so nothing broke.

“Careful there bud. I’ll help you out.” Hunk kneeled down to start picking the things, Lance helping him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it would fall down like that.” The royal apologised, earning a smile from the other.

“Don’t worry about it man. It happens to all of us.” Hunk assured, helping him pick up the last of the bottles before standing back up, “Well, I’ll be on my way then. I have a lot of work to do back home. It was nice meeting you buddy.”

Lance smiled as Hunk pat his shoulder, “Thanks for helping me out. It was nice meeting you too.”

Hunk gave him one more pat before walking away, “See you around bud!” And that left Lance alone with the fish. However, what Hunk didn’t know was that instead of leaving, Lance remained close, watching Hunk from the sidelines as the human continued to shop.

He followed Hunk as he walked out the establishment, keeping an eye on him and following. He remained discreet, even as Hunk turned the corner and left his sight. Lance followed quickly, but just as he turned, he bumped into someone, falling down on his ass. “Ow-Owww!” He winced, looking up to see Hunk standing tall in front of him, arms crossed.

“Why are you following me? Are you a spy from the Garrison?” Hunk was vary now, and Lance could sense the change in his stance and stare. Maye he should have approached Hunk right away, but the thought that he would get to see his soulmate blinded him.

“I’m no spy, and I’m not from the Garrison.” Lance stood up, dusting his pants, “I come in peace.” He raised his hands up, showing that he means it, “I was hoping you could tell me where Keith is. I’ve been looking for him for a while now but I can’t find him anywhere.”

Hunk became even more wary with the mention of Keith, “Everyone is looking for Keith now, and even if I knew where he was, I wouldn’t tell you. He has the whole world looking for him right now.”

“But I’m special.” Lance tried to stress the importance of this, “I _need_  to meet with him. If I don’t, then the Garrison will find him first.”

Hunk narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “What do you mean that you’re special? What’re you to Keith? I don’t think he ever mentioned you before… Then again I don’t know if… What’s your name?”

“The name’s Lance, or maybe I should say the thief of hearts.” He grinned, hands on his hips, “And as fate would have it, I’m searching for my princess right this very moment.”

“Oh no… Are you trying to tell me you’re one of Keith’s exes?” Hunk sighed, hand on his forehead.

“One of his exes? No? I’m his _boyfriend_. There are no exs before that.” Noting the expression on Hunk’s face, Lance began feeling uneasy, “Why would you assume that?”

Hunk knew that seeing it would be better than trying to explain it so he reached into his pocket, taking out a single book and showing it to Lance. He opened it, showing two pages of the said item, “Need I say more?”

“Gimme that.” Lance snatched the thing, eyes widening at the list of names and descriptions that were beside them.

“Jack? Description; he’s an ass that had the decency to kiss someone else in front of me. That’s why I decided to kiss his ass goodbye instead.” Lance was out of words, “WHAT!?” He screeched, looking over the other entries.

“Nathan. Description; got too touchy. An ass. No other descriptions required.” Lance flipped through the rest of the pages, looking at the various names of what he presumed were Keith’s past love interests.

“Hah! I can’t believe this! Do you see this Hunk!?” He turned to the other who knowingly nodded.

“I don’t see your name there. Are you really who you say you are? I’m _sure_  that Keith would have you in the book if he-”

“I’m not an ex!” Lance threw the small book on the ground, stomping on it with all his force, “I can’t believe this! The cheater cheated on me!” Now he wanted nothing more than to strangle that mullet for this. How dare he!?

“Uhhh…” Hunk wasn’t sure how to approach this, “I’m sorry buddy, but I’m not sure if I believe you to be who you say you are.”

“I’m not an ex!” Lance stressed, stomping on the book some more, “Why do you even have this? Isn’t it suppose to be with Keith?”

“It was.” Hunk confirmed, “But due to… circumstances, I decided to take it. I know he wouldn’t want anyone seeing it.” Actually, thinking about it now, Hunk decided to pick the book up, relieved that it was only dirty on the outside. “You’re going to have to buy him a new book.”

“I’m buying him _nothing_. If anything I’ll strangle him alive.” The royal tapped his foot against the ground rapidly, arms folded in annoyance. “Can you tell me where he is? We need to talk about this.”

“Listen here buddy, I don’t know who you are, but even if I knew where Keith was, which I don’t, I wouldn’t tell you.” The tall man crossed his arms, tapping his foot against the ground rhythmically as he sent a frown so stern that it momentarily gave Lance flashback to his old governess. The taller male didn’t let up either, “Especially if you’re going to make death threats like that.”

Lance frowned, frustrated by the situation, “Look, I _promise_  I’m not one an _ex_.”

Hunk frowned, voice still firm, “Yeah, obviously, or else you would be in the book. And don’t try to pull that boyfriend card on me. Keith confides everything in me, so I would already know about you if you were dating.”

Unless Keith forgot about him every time he woke up. Then he wouldn’t be able to confide in _anyone_. Which lead to their current situation. Blue eyes sent a quick, _hateful_  glare to the book before flickering up to meet the taller man’s disapproving brown eyes. There was no doubt in Lance’s mind that the man _did_  know where Keith was, and there was only one way to convince him to help.

Lance took a moment to study their surroundings, making sure no on was there to catch a glimpse of them  before turning back toward the man. He deflated a bit, showing his defeat, “Alright, you win, I’m not his boyfriend.”

It was a bit of a lie, but the taller man didn’t need to know that.

“I thought so.” Hunk nodded. The taller man held out his hand, indicating towards the book, “If we’re done here then I’ll take that back now.”

“Wait, please.” Lance brought his fingers up, tugging at the shirt collar as he pulled it down, just low enough to let the man catch a glimpse of Keith’s name written across his collarbone, “Please, I _need_  to find him.”

Hunk froze, his eyes going wide as he realized what Lance was showing him. He took a moment to process the word, but then he was rambling with barely contained excitement, “Oh my gosh! You’re his soulmate.”

The man reached over and grabbed Lance by the shoulders, his eyes shining, but then he paused and frowned, “Dude, he’s been trying to connect with you for years. Why didn’t you ever connect with him? He thought you were dead, or that you rejected him.”

“It’s complicated.” How could he explain this without actually revealing that he isn’t out of this world? “I might have rejected Keith at first but then I realised… something, and re-established our connection. It’s hard to explain but trust me when I say that I’ve been trying to connect with him for a while now. Our connection is weak and that’s why we can’t connect through our senses.”

“Huh? But how can it be weak if you never met?” Hunk let the other go, still pumped with excitement but also confused by Lance’s words, “I’ve never heard of a weak connection right from the get go.”

“Trust me, it’s really,  _really,_  complicated.” Lance traced his hand over his soulmark, the messy handwriting Keith’s name was written in was a clear indication to Hunk that it was definitely the Keith he knew that they were talking about.

And now he found his soulmate, after all these years of them thinking that his soulmate rejected him and wanted nothing to do with him.

“I can’t believe this. You have no idea just how thrilled I am buddy.” But they couldn’t talk about it out here, the Garrison has its eyes everywhere and especially on Hunk. They know that he is one of Keith’s close friends so their surveillance on him was much stricter than on anyone else. Well… That is apart from Keith’s exes but the Garrison will struggle talking to them.

“We have to get back to my house. We can’t talk out here.” Hunk whispered, eyes landing on the other, “I-I mean if that’s okay? I really need you to come with me buddy. I’d like to call _him_  and tell him the news.”

Hunk’s words made Lance perk up, a smile spreading across his face, “Of course! That’s why I came to find you in the first place.” The human beamed, turning to head back home with Lance following him close by.

Oh god… What will Keith say when he hears about this?

Since Hunk’s home was closeby, they made it there fairly quickly. The human opened the door, letting Lance enter first before closing it behind them. He made a point to look out the window, looking for any Garrison officers that might be lurking around. They probably already took note of Lance’s presence, communicating amongst themselves and letting each other know of the updates.

“Hunk?” His mother called out from the kitchen, already hearing the sound of his cousins approaching. Hunk grabbed Lance’s hand before they could make it, ushering him to his room.

“It’s me mum! I have a guest here with me. We’ll be up in my room!” He raised his voice so that his mother could hear him.

“Oh! I’ll bake some cookies then!” The cheerful sounding woman replied while Hunk closed the door to his room, sighing in relief.

“Sorry man, I have a big family. If we stayed down there, they would throw themselves on you like lions.” Hunk scratched the back of his head, smiling.

“That’s nice.” Lance looked around the small room, seating himself on the edge of the bed, “Don’t worry about it, I get it.”

“Sorry.” The human reached for his phone, searching for Pidge’s number in the contact list. Once he found it, he paused, eyes looking up at Lance. “Before I call, there’s something you have to promise me. Keith is hiding right now so any contact with him might put him in danger. I can call from my phone because we have a friend that takes care of the tracking, but you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Lance’s blue eyes met with Hunk’s brown orbs, “I know Keith is in a tough spot.” And it’s because of him that he’s been put in that position, “I wouldn’t do anything to make the situation worse.”

Hunk kept looking at the other, trying to decide if Lance was trustworthy or not. He doesn’t know the whole story behind his and Keith’s connection but Keith at least deserved to know that he was here, looking for him. Hunk held the phone tightly in hand, pressing the call button.

“Let me talk with them first, and if Keith decides that he wants to speak with you, then I’ll hand over the phone. I have no idea how he’ll react to this but I think he deserves to know after all this time so I have to call.” Hunk didn’t have the heart not to tell him. Keith had been looking for so long that he deserves this call more than anything.

“Okay.” The royal nodded, both of them waiting for Pidge to pick up.

 

* * *

 

“Are you done Pidge?” Keith asked in boredom, leg swinging beside the couch he was laying on. He heard an annoyed groan from the girl, turning to look at her. 

“If you ask me one more time, I’ll shoot you.” She had enough of this shit, “This is the nth time you’ve asked me. Any more and I’ll leave you. Then you’ll have nobody to help you with this shit.”

“You wouldn’t leave us. You have nowhere to go.” Keith hummed while Pidge grumbled in frustration.

“Stop trying to be a smart ass. Just do something productive with your time and leave me alone. If you do, I might actually get this shit done.” She reached out into her bag, taking out a square box out of it. “Take this and expose it to the sun. It’ll charge up my batteries using solar energy.”

Keith blinked, “You had something like that?”

“Of course I do idiot. Internet is the blood in my veins. I can’t be without it and thus I’m always prepared.” She took another similar looking item out of her bag, “This one charges up using tidal power. You place it in water and then it charges up so that I can keep my laptop alive.”

“You never cease to amaze me sis.” Matt noted from where he was, still reading the book he began reading about three hours ago.

“Unlike you, I’m actually doing some work. Soon enough I’ll have our established connection ready for us so that we can contact the Garrison.” She turned to Shiro, “Do you know what we’ll be asking?”

“The ‘why’ and ‘how’.” Shiro spoke from his own mattress, “I want to know why the aliens want Keith and what they intend to do with him if they get him. I also want to ask if the Garrison knew about the aliens well before they appeared.”

“They knew about them.” Matt frowned, flipping a page, “We were attacked by them, remember?”

“They’re not the same aliens. They know about the ones that attacked us, but that doesn’t mean that they might know about the Alteans.” Just how involved was Garrison in all of this?

“Looks to me like we’re going to have a long chat with them.” Keith sat up, looking at the rest of his group, “We can’t stay on the line with them for too long, otherwise they’ll pick up on our signal despite Pidge’s efforts to block it.”

“Exactly.” The girl agreed with him, “Keep it short Shiro.”

“Understood.” Shiro nodded, immersing himself in thoughts of what they’ll be asking the Garrison.

Just then Pidge’s phone began to ring, the girl taking it to see Hunk’s name on the screen. “It’s Hunk.” She picked up, “What’s up?”

“Pidge! You won’t believe what just happened! This is nuts!” The Samoan yelled loudly and excitedly into the phone, making Pidge move the phone away from her ear.

“What? Were you attacked?” She leaned the phone close again, the others tensing once they heard her say that. Matt dropped his book while both Shiro and Keith sat up. Pidge’s eyes suddenly lit up, “WHAT!? You’re joking!” She stood up on her mattress, er excitement confusing everyone else in the shack.

“What happened? Did the Garrison do something?” Keith asked warily, Pidge shaking her head.

“Wait, I’ll put you up on speaker.” And she did just that, moving the phone away so that everyone could hear Hunk now. “Say it Hunk, Keith can hear you.”

“Keith!” Hunk’s voice sounded, “I found your soulmate! Or ehem… He found me? He’s right here with me!”

Keith froze in place, those words hitting him hard. What?

“How do you know?” Pidge spoke instead, “How sure are you?”

“Absolutely sure. I mean, I doubt anyone’s handwriting could be this messy but Keith’s. He showed me his soulmark, Keith’s name written in his handwriting. Trust me, I’ve seen Keith write too many times to mistake something like this.”

Everyone in the shack looked over at the pale boy, just as shocked as Keith seemed to be. “Is it a guy then?” Pidge asked again.

“Yeah.” And Hunk confirmed it.

“Shit.” At one point Keith and her had a bet about it, and just out of spite at that moment, she swore that Keith’s soulmate would be a woman. Looks like she’ll have to pay up the bet now. Still, the shock was still so very fresh, making it hard to say anything at all, even Shiro for the normally calm and collected Shiro.

“I’m not sure if Keith wants to talk to him, or if you want me to send a picture of his soulmark to prove it to you guys. I just… I thought that I should tell you right away Keith.” Hunk was sincere and Keith could feel it in his voice. Still, it was hard to register anything else, the shock too great.

The pale boy turned, biting his thumb anxiously as he thought over the _terrible_  timing his soulmate had. This really was the worst time for the guy to just turn up out of nowhere and decide he wanted to be a part of his life. 

Unless it wasn’t…

“How do you know the Garrison didn’t track him down or send him?” Keith asked, turning back to face the phone, “Or that his soulmark is real? This could be a trap meant to lure me out and pack me off to the aliens I somehow pissed off.”

“That’s a good point.” Pidge hummed, going on the defensive, “Keith’s soulmate has rejected the bond for _years_ , and he suddenly turns up now? All the way from Middle East or wherever he lives. Suspicious.”

“You two are paranoid as hell.” Matt spoke up, “Of course the guy was going to turn up if aliens were personally after his soulmate. Who wouldn’t?”

“It _is_  suspicious.” Shiro concluded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “But we shouldn’t just brush him off either. Matt’s right when he says anyone would be worried to hear their soulmate is being targeted by an alien race.”

“Which I’m still pissed about Keith.” Pidge piped in, “And when you finally admit to how you managed to get a whole race to want your head on a platter then I’ll forgive you.”

“Alright, first of all, I’ve told you a million times that I didn’t do anything. And second, weren’t we going to call the Garrison about this situation anyway?”

“ _What_?” Hunk’s worried voice cracked, along with an other, more unfamiliar, voice. Hunk took a moment to placate someone before speaking again, “Uhh, guys, _terrible_  idea remember? What if these Altean guys want to cut him up into little pieces?”

“We’re _not_  giving away Keith’s location. Not even to you.” Shiro’s voice was stern, “But we’re going to demand answers.”

“Okay, okay, fine. But what about the soulmate thing?” Hunk asked, letting out a long sight, “Because I’ve got the guy right here, and I’m one-hundred percent certain that he’s legitimately worried.”

Keith felt something at that, a sharp pang in his chest. It was something that must have come from all that buried want and desire. The pang was also mixed with years of crushing disappointment and the bitter sting of rejection. He hissed, temper flaring a bit, “You know what, I _would_  like to talk to him.”

“ _Oh no_.” He barely heard Hunk’s horrified whisper, “ _That’s the ex boyfriend voice_.”

Keith ignored the comment and snatched up Pidge’s phone, keeping it on speaker as he stomped over the room, “If you’re there then you better have a good fucking explanation for all of this! I’ve been trying to contact you for _years_  and you turn up _now_ , when aliens are trying to find me?”

“I tried to make a connection.” A vaguely familiar voice answered, causing Keith to pause, “I can’t explain it...our connection is weak…”

“A weak connection? When we haven’t even met.” Keith wrinkles his nose, one hand going to rest on his hip, “Listen here ‘soulmate’, are you even really my soulmate? Or did the Garrison find one of my old test papers and copy my signature from it?”

“Keith, no, I’m real.” The voice soothed, “I’m...I’m not some _spy_. I just want to find you before that Garrison does.”

“Everyone is trying to find me right now.” Keith spit, “Even _Rolo_  tried to call me.”

Hunk gasped over the phone, “ _No_.”

“Yes.” Keith hissed hatefully, “And you expect me to believe that you came all the way from...from...Turkey or wherever. Well listen up, I’m not falling for that. People don’t just...just... _change their minds_  about me. So if you expect me to believe you suddenly just...just... _care_  about me and that this isn’t some…”

He sniffed then, and it hadn’t quite hit him before that he was beginning to tear up, or that his voice was getting an octave higher with every word he’d spit.

“Keith, why don’t you take a moment to calm down.” Shiro suggested softly, taking the phone from the younger brother’s grip, moving to sit him down on the couch while he held Pidge’s cell up to his ear, “Look, I think Keith should take the time to calm down. We’re going to go ahead and proceed with our plan to contact the Garrison and demand answers. He’ll be ready to talk by then.”

“And I’ll contact you if anything happens here. The Garrison is keeping a tight watch on me, so if I don’t respond to your calls, they might have taken me in.” It was surprising that they didn’t already, “We’ll be here whenever you want to call back.” Hunk assured, feeling that it was the only way they would be able to help Keith and the rest at the moment. 

“Just…” The other voice spoke, “Consider the possibility of meeting with me. I’ll wait for when Keith is ready to talk, but I _really_  have to meet him.”

“For all we know the Garrison could have send you. Give us time to think this though, but in the meantime, staying with Hunk would be the best option for you. I have to cut the connection now, but we’ll keep in touch. Thanks Hunk, and let us know if you find out anything new.” Shiro held the phone against his ear, the loudspeaker turned off.

“Of course. We’ll talk to you later then.” And with that the phone call ended, Shiro pressing the red button before handing Pidge her phone back. It wasn’t to say that this development was the last thing they expected to happen but, this really was unexpected.

“The timing is strange.” Pidge noted, thinking out loud, “But then again, he could be legit.”

“I mean, if it were me.” Matt leaned against the wall, facing his sister, “I’d also freak out if my soulmate was suddenly the target of aliens. He didn’t know Keith’s location before, but now he knows it from the news and all. He has credibility.”

“Point.” Pidge accepted that, “But it still doesn’t mean that he can’t be a fake. Soulmarks can be faked if they write the name on the skin themselves. The Garrison might have used it to lure Keith out. They know that he didn’t find his soulmate yet so they’d use something like that against him.”

Shiro followed along their conversation, turning to his younger brother and seating himself beside him. He leaned his hand against Keith’s back, pulling the sniffing pale boy towards himself, “We can talk about that later. For now, we have to contact the Garrison.”

“I’ve already established a safe connection. Should we do it now?” Pidge asked, eyes on Shiro.

“The sooner we do it, the quicker we’ll get the answers we need.” He held onto Keith tightly, “Is that okay Keith?”

“Yeah.” The pale boy wiped at his eyes, “Just give me a second.”

“I’m sure Iverson’s voice will make you feel better.” Pidge teased, “We’ll be calling him to find out what’s going on. He was working alongside Shiro so he should be a bit understanding… No wait, I take that back. Maybe we should call someone else Shiro?”

“No, Iverson is our best bet.” Out of anyone in the Garrison, Iverson was the one they would get the most out of, “He may let information slip by without even meaning to.”

Keith groaned at the possibility of speaking to the worst instructor at the Garrison. He rubbed his forehead, knowing that it was useless to argue when Shrio already made up his mind. He was already making the call too, so it really was too late to fight now.

 Every ring filled Keith with a new sense of dread. Eventually the sound of the phone picking up filled his ears, followed by that annoyingly gruff voice, “Iverson speaking.”

"Hello Iverson.” Shiro spoke calmly, “I have some questions for you.”

“Shirogane!” Iverson barked, the sound of slamming following another sound that might have been his chair hitting the floor, “I demand you reveal your location and hand over Kogane this _instant_.”

“I can’t do that Iverson.” Shiro spoke evenly, though there was the smallest hint of a glare in his eyes, “Especially since I don’t know how they know about Keith or why they want him.”

“That’s something I would like to know.” Iverson growled, “When, exactly, did you make contact with alien lifeforms again? And what did Kogane do to endanger us all?”

“We haven’t made contact since Sam Holt was taken, by a different species at that it would seem.” Shiro supplied, “And we won’t hand over Keith unless we know what the Alteans want with him.”

“And you’re expecting me to know?” Iveson grumbled, “If you called to gather information Shirogane, then you’ve come to the wrong place! The Alteans have stated their terms, and we’re to comply unless we want our planet destroyed.”

“And you can’t expect me to believe that you know nothing about the situation. Give me something to work with Iverson.” Shiro tried to stress the importance of their cooperation, “If we don’t work together, then our planet might really be destroyed.”

“What? Are you trying to tell me that you won’t hand over Kogane even with the planet at stake here?” They heard a loud rumble, as if Iverson was picking up his fallen chair, “You can’t be serious!? Are you trying to kill us all?”

“That’s not the point Iverson.” Shiro remained calm, “There’s no guarantee that if we hand over Keith, that we’ll be safe from the Alteans. What if we hand him over but the Alteans still decide to destroy us? Keith may be the only bargaining chip we have against them.”

Iverson was quiet, suddenly realising what Shiro was trying to say, “So you’re saying that Kogane may be the only thing saving us from certain doom?”

“It’s likely. If they suddenly came to our planet in search for him, then I doubt they would destroy it while he’s still in our custody.” That got Iverson to calm down, submitting to Shiro who had an upper hand here.

“Then what do you suggest we do Shirogane? I’ll hear you out.” Iverson was all ears now, exactly where they wanted him to be.

“We won’t hand over Keith to them, and I already told you the reason for that. I would suggest you contact the Alteans and tell them that if they want Keith, then they have to comply with our demands.”

“Are you insane!?” Iverson perked up at that, “What if they destroy us the moment I go barging in there demanding answers? I say we take Kogane and go into their ship. Then we can bargain with them. Unlike the aliens at Kerberos, they seem to be willing to listen to us.”

“How do you know they’re not the same aliens?” Shiro narrowed his eyes at that, “You’re hiding something Iverson.”

“I-I!” And so he was.

“What is it? Does it have anything to do with the Garrison sending drones into space?” Shiro pressed, cracking Iverson further.

He heard a loud groan on the other side, and then the slamming of a fist against the table, “Listen Shirogane, we know that the Alteans and the aliens you encountered aren’t the same. The ships that the Altean signals emit are different from the other aliens. We think that apart from the Alteans, the other aliens may be nearby as well. Don’t you understand the position we found ourselves in?”

“I understand you want to hand my little brother over to possibly be imprisoned or tortured by a foreign entity we know nothing about.” Shiro bit back.

“You heard them, they don’t want to hurt a single hair on Kogane’s head.” Iverson tried, “That doesn’t sound like it leads to torture.”

“Unless they just want to torture him themselves.” Pidge whispered to Matt.

“You’re reaching.” Matt whispered back.

“That doesn’t mean they don’t want to experiment on him.” Shiro frowned, “Tell the Alteans that Keith’s brother refuses to hand him over unless we know what they want to do with him. If you have nothing else to say than we’re done here.”

“Shirogane, don’t you ha-” Iverson tried, but Shiro hung up on him.

A tense silence fell over the shack. The four inhabitants taking a moment to stare at one another before the silence was finally broken by Matt, “Well, we just confirmed that the Garrison is full of liars.”

“We already knew that.” Pidge huffed, propping her chin and her fist, “So we basically got nothing.”

“We know that the Garrison are still shit negotiators.” Matt supplied.

“We still don’t know why they want me.” Keith sighed from his place on the couch, running his hands through his hair, “Or what they’ll do if we keep them waiting too long.”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of handing yourself over to them Keith.” Matt huffed, crossing his arms, “Because I’m going to have to shoot that down before Shiro can open his mouth and ground you himself.”

“I won’t hear any of that talk in this household.” Pidge nodded.

Keith sighed, deflating a bit, deciding that fighting a losing battle wasn’t worth it. He leaned back, exhausted by the emotionally draining phone calls and the lack of good sleep he was experiencing. He leaned down, letting his back hit the bottom of the couch, “I’m too tired to argue.”

“Then we won’t argue. Instead we’ll talk about Iverson’s call.” Pidge pushed up her glasses, feeling that unlike the rest of them, she managed to catch onto something important, “Iverson said that the aliens who attacked you on Kerberos might be roaming around as well. They’re different from the Alteans so that means that we could have potentially two alien races to deal with.”

“Yeah, but those aliens aren’t here.” Then it hit Matt, “Or are they? What are you trying to say?”

“It’s simple, you guys are missing the bigger picture.” Pidge leaned her hand against her chin in thought, “Think about the speech that Altean royal gave. He mentioned a war, so what if we actually found ourselves in a much bigger mess than we originally thought? Alteans want Keith, and we don’t know why, but apart from that, we also know that at least two separate alien entities exist. What if they’re at war or something like that?”

The rest of the group stared at the girl in confusion, not really knowing what to say to that, “That’s theorising on our part Pidge. We don’t know that for sure.” Shiro tried to direct the conversation back to what was important. “What we need to focus on is why the Alteans want Keith.”

“But that’s the thing. What if it’s related?” Pidge pressed, “What if there’s a war going on out in space? And the Alteans need Keith for something related to the war? I mean, okay, I might be reaching here, but I really believe there’s something more here than meets the eye.”

“Alright.” Shiro sat down on the couch next to Keith, “If you’re right, then it’s all the more reason why we can’t give them Keith. For now we should focus on the Alteans. Hopefully Iversons listens to us and asks them for their reasons. We should call him later to see if he has any updates for us.”

“Sounds good.” The girl huffed, “I doubt Iverson will do anything though.”

“Same.” Matt agreed, “We shouldn’t expect much from him.”

“I expect nothing and I still feel like I’m going to be disappointed.” Keith groaned, pulling himself up, “I need to piss, I’m going out.”

“Wear a sun hat and keep your head down, we don’t want anyone picking up your image.” Pidge commanded from her spot.

“And come back in as soon as you’re done.” Shiro cautioned, “We’ll never know when someone will spot you.”

“Will do.” Keith shrugged, moving towards the bags and shuffling around them until he found a hat with a wide enough brim to cover his head. He slid the locks open and scooted out the door, letting out a sigh of relief as he was finally out of the stuffy room.

He stepped past thee porch, walking over to the old tree his tire swing used to be on. There was an itch in his head again, some longing he couldn’t name, but it was tainted with the familiar nostalgia of long past childhood days.

He missed his dad.

Keith took a moment to stare, letting the longing pull him forward as he placed his hand on the base of the tree. The longing was satiated though, the strange pull still leading him _somewhere_. Violet eyes stared out into the desert, feeling the call of something out there.

The ravenette shook his head. He’d been cooped up in that shack for way too long. Best just finish his business and go back inside. So he did just that, taking time to pull some hand sanitizer out of his coat pocket and rub his hands down before moving to walk back inside.

Opening the door, Keith found everyone were he left them, as bored as ever. He met eyes with Pidge who looked up with a frown, “So?”

“So?” He asked, closing the door before throwing himself back onto the couch.

“What’re we gonna do? We need food.” She frowned, a bit hungry, “I say Matt and I take the car and go do some shopping. Nobody will spot us there. Besides, we might get to see your soulmate if we meet up with Hunk.”

“It’s too dangerous for now.” Shiro dismissed the notion, “We need to stay low for a little while, once things calm down, then you two can go. We still have enough supplies to last us about two days.”

“But that’s the bare minimum. You expect me to eat nothing but beef jerky for two days?” She raised a brow.

“Yes, at least for now.” Shiro turned to Keith instead. “Remember not to go outside without the hat Keith. We can’t risk you being seen by the satellites.” The Garrison would most likely be searching for any signs of life within the desert of Texas now that they know his approximate location.

“Okay.” Keith turned to look at the window, the strange feeling of longing still pulling him towards the desert. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt the need to go to it. “Do you guys feel it?”

Shiro and Matt perked up while Pidge worked on her laptop, “What?” Matt was the one who asked, finally finishing his book.

Keith frowned, shaking his head as he turned away from the window, “Nevermind. I’ve just been locked inside for too long.”

“Then we’re leaving.” Pidge stood up, whipping off her pants as she moved to leave, grabbing the hat from Keith’s hand and placing it on her own head, “Peace out fuckers.”

“We’ll be back soon guys.” Matt smiled, placing a kiss on Shiro’s cheek as he walked out the door. Then it was just Keith and Shiro left, a heavy silence falling over them as the Holt siblings began the long trek towards the van.

Shiro turned towards his younger brother with _that_  look, “Hey, I haven't gotten a real chance to ask you this, but are you alright? A lot has happened in the last two days.”

“I’m fine.” Keith scoffed, “Just being hunted down by aliens, no big deal. I always wanted to be on the FBI’s Most Wanted.”

“Keith…” Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s fine Shiro.” Keith waved off, “Really, I’m just stressed.”

“I know.” Shiro let out a heavy sigh, looking ten years older as he did, “I wish you didn’t have to deal with all of this.”

“I’m fine.” Keith repeated, “I’m just...I’m going to take a nap. I’m tired.”

“Yeah, you haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.” Shiro frowned, moving his hand down to Keith’s upper back and giving a light push, “Get some real sleep, I’ll wake you up if you have another nightmare.”

“Thanks Shiro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Klance can still be fanon king if it doesn't become canon guys. XD Not that its stopping me. I'll just headcanon that Allurance breaks up three weeks after they get together if they're endgame. XD Come on guys, we're stronger than all this panic. XD
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: I'm really worried for all of us. How are you guys doing after s7? Are you all okay? I think that we've all began recovering but just making sure all of our readers are okay. To help you all recover, we bring you some klance goodness <3 *whispers* all au's are canon since they take place in an alternative reality... so Klance is canon king XD All the stories u love are technically canon so XD
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	4. The Blue Lion

Lance found himself seated on a windowsill, looking down at a group of children as they played in the garden. His eyes were on the white ball they were kicking around, and having watched them for about an hour now, he understood that the goal was for the teams to shoot the ball into their opponent’s goals. When they’d manage to shoot and score, they’d all yell out ‘goal!’ excitedly. Lance smiled at that, eyes wondering up to look beyond the garden.

The desert was vast and never ending. It made him wonder how the small population of humans in this area managed to survive. They didn’t have bodies that were adapted to the scorching heat like some of the other alien species he met before, and without water, they wouldn’t be able to live. However, despite all that, they still managed to create a small society within the desert.

It was fascinating just how these humans seemed similar to the Alteans. They were humanoid beings, and if it weren’t for their ears and lack of markings, then they'd look completely Altean. Then again, what makes an Altean isn’t only in the appearance but also in culture and ways of life. There are similarities to them but there are also differences as well.

Thankfully the human, Hunk, allowed him to stay in his house, giving him a temporary residence. They hadn’t called Keith since, and neither did Keith try to contact them. Lance had hoped that Keith would call so that they could talk one-on-one more privately. It only came to prove that his soulmate wasn’t ready, and so Lance was willing to give him the time.

The only problem was that time is short. The Galra already have this planet on their radar, and Lance had no doubt that some of their scouts were already on Earth. They’re here on a mission, searching for a weapon his father created.

The war is still ongoing out in space between the Alteans and Galra, and right now they didn’t have any time to spare. The sooner he gets Keith, the sooner he can go back to his planet. But then the question would arise if Keith would actually be willing to go back to Altea with him. What if he has no interest of going into space?

The royal leaned his head against his hand, blue eyes on the children as his mind swirled with all kinds of different throughs. Surely after all this time Keith would want them to be together, or at least that’s what Lance hoped was the case.

The door opened, revealing Hunk with a tray of what looked like human food. Lance looked up, spotting two more children running towards him and throwing themselves into his arms. “Whoa! Easy there.” He smiled, looking down at the children who returned it, showing their missing teeth, “I’ve been watching your game. You have to show me how you managed to kick that ball so high up in the air. It was awesome.”

The small boy and girl both perked up, “We’ll show you right now! Come on! Let’s go play!”

“Oh no! I just brought us some lunch. Big brother Hunk and Lance will join you when we’re done.” Hunk received displeased frowns right away.

“No fair! We want to play with Lancey!” The boy complained, tugging on Lance’s arm. The girl joined him, tugging on the other hand.

“I’ll play with you, but before that, why don’t you go decide on the teams? I’ll be right there after I’m done.” He pat them both on their heads, the children looking up at him with smiles on their faces.

“Okay!” They ran out of the room, leaving the two alone.

“You’re great with kids.” Hunk noted, taking his own plate in hand. “Do you have any siblings? Cousins?”

“I have an older sister and the old man. They’re not as fun to be around as your cousins.” Lance looked down at the plate he supposed was his, examining the foreign food that was there. He took it, eyeing the contents of the plate warily. It did smell good so it couldn’t be bad.

“Don’t like it?” Hunk leaned forward, “That’s a burger with beef, lettuce, a slice of tomato and cheese, with some fries on the side.” He blinked, noting Lance’s confused expression. “Oh no… Don’t tell me you’re allergic to cheese or something like that?”

Lance flinched, looking up at him, “No, no, I’m just…. Uhhh… It looks nice! Visually!” He took the food Hunk names as a ‘hamburger’ taking a cautious bite. He was wary at first but as soon as he took a bite, he was overwhelmed by the delicious taste, “Oh. My. God! It’s delicious! I’ve never tasted something so… so… fulfilling!”

Hunk chuckled, a wide smile on his face, “I’m glad you like it man. You look so happy it makes me think that this is your first time trying a burger.”

Lance nodded, “It is. I _never_  tried something this good.”

“What!?” That took the human by surprise, “You never ate a burger!? How!?”

“Never had the chance.” They don’t sell them in space exactly, “But I’m glad I tried it. I need to make sure to stock up on them before leaving.”

“Oh yeah… about that. Keith didn’t call yet, and neither did anyone else.” Hunk scratched the back of his head, “I don’t know what you plan to do but you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want. I’m not sure what we can do since Keith can’t come out into town but maybe we can try contacting them again? That seems like our best bet.”

Lance hummed in thought, thinking it over, “Then how about we go to them instead? I _need_  to meet with Keith, otherwise someone else will get to him first.”

“I’m sorry buddy.” Hunk sighed, “But I doubt Pidge will let you go to him. You know, we still aren’t sure if the Garrison sent you.”

“I’m no _spy_.” Lance rolled his eyes, “I’m the real deal.”

“Yeah but we don’t know that for sure.” Hunk took another bite, chewing on it while Lance looked out of the window, taking a bite himself.

“Then what do I have to do to prove myself? I want to talk to Keith privately, but I doubt I’ll get a chance to talk to him like this.” It was frustrating in a way that they were as close as they’ve ever been, but still so far apart.

“I’m sorry buddy, but I’m not the one making the calls here.” Hunk grimaced, “The Garrison are breathing down my neck, and who knows what those Altean guys would do if they found Keith.”

Lance knew, he knew very well. He would give Keith every need and luxury, everything he could ever want. He’d ease every pain Keith felt, and dote him with all the tender love and affection he would ever need if only the pale boy would let him. Lance would move the stars themselves if that’s what it took to make Keith his.

He just had to _find_  Keith first. He had to make sure he was safe and well away from Galra hands before the empire found out about him. If they got their hands on Keith…

Lance shook he head. No, he couldn't even think about what they’d do to Keith if they found him. But the thought still passed and a new wave of fear washed over him. They didn’t have time for this. Every tick they wasted was another moment the Galra had to figure out what was going on.

And if they got Keith…

“Hunk.” Lance’s voice cracked horribly, a wobbly, messy, sound. The royal blinked, fighting back fat tears as he turned to stare at the human. His shoulders shook, and the fresh wave of fear took over his body, “Please, you don’t understand. I _have_  to find him first.”

The royal couldn’t hold his tears back anymore, letting them fall down is cheeks. He let go of his burger, wiping away at the tears before Hunk handed him a tissue, “Here, it’s better than wiping yourself with greasy hands.”

Lance accepted it, leaning his back against the windowsill, feeling powerless and useless when right now his soulmate might be in danger. What if he already is? There was no telling what could happen, and even if the Galra found Keith and took him, Lance wouldn’t know about it. He has no way of connecting with Keith, not with their connection weak as it was.

He wished it was stronger so that he could see through Keith’s eyes, and for Keith to see through his own. He wanted to experience that bond so badly. Perhaps if he falls asleep, he’ll be able to meet Keith in the astral plane, but if he does that, then Keith will forget about it. It’s fruitless.

Hunk’s shoulders slumped, eyes lowering at the sight of the other. He was weak to tears so it got him thinking what he could do to help Lance out. If he asks Pidge about it, he was sure that she would reject them. The same would apply for Shiro and Matt as well.

Hunk wasn’t sure if Keith was ready for Lance yet. but he was sure that once they meet they’ll be able to sort everything out. From what Hunk could tell the guy seems to care about Keith a lot. He doesn’t think those tears are fake, but then again, he’d only known him for a little while.

“What if we go out and search for them? I mean, I don’t know where they are exactly, but I have a feeling that they may be in a shack that Keith used to live in. I don’t know where it is so we may get lost but I’m willing to give it a try.” Hunk smiled, Lance looking up to meet his eyes.

“Search for them?” The realisation hit him, “Really? You’d help me?”

“I’m not sure if I would be doing the right thing, but I know that by being here, I’m putting my family in danger. The Garrison may come and take me in, and I don’t want my mum going through that. It would be better if I leave for a while. Besides, I also think that you’re genuine. I don’t think you’d fake crying like this.” He gave Lance another tissue, the royal accepting it.

“Thank you.” Lance sniffed, rubbing his eyes with the tissue, “I can’t tell you what this means to me.”

“Hey buddy, don’t worry, I get it.” Hunk scratched the back of his head, “I’ve been having trouble getting in touch with my soulmate too. So I know how desperate you must be. I just need you to promise me one thing.”

“Anything.” Lance looked up, nodding firmly, his eyes still a bit watery.

Hunk gave him a firm look, “Keith is one of my best friends, and he’s been through a lot rough times. If I’m going to do this then I need you to look me in the eye and _promise_  me that you’ll do right by him. No being a Garrison spy, no dating him just to...to...kiss another person in front of him. No hurting him. I don’t wanna see your name in his book.”

Brown eyes met watery blue, the two gazes level and unbreaking as a silence fell between them. Hunk wanted to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but he _needed_  to hear him promise first, before he risked every friendship he had over this. So he waited, watching the brunette as he sniffed and whipped his eyes dry.

“I promise.” Lance spoke, meeting his eyes more determined now. He nodded firmly, resolving himself as he sat up straight and stared unblinking into Hunk’s brown eyes, “I won’t _ever_  hurt him.”

And that was good enough for Hunk. He stood up, walking over to grab his car keys from the bowl, making sure to slip them in his pocket before rejoining Lance back at his seat. He looked the boy in the eye, leaning forward to whisper, “Finish your burger, the Garrison guards watching me should switch out soon. We’ll have to make a break for it then.”

Lance nodded, face drawn with renewed determination.

He shoved the delicious meal into his mouth, taking a bite out of the thing the humans called ‘french fries’. They were _heavenly_  and from this moment onward, Lance swore he would try all the foods planet Earth had to offer.

Once he was done, he wiped at his mouth, finishing his cup of water as he waited for Hunk’s signal. The human was discreetly looking out the window, waiting for the right moment when they could sneak out. Eventually Hunk gave the signal and they both quickly stood up, heading down into the garage.

“Mum!” Hunk called out as they made their way down the stairs, “I’ll have to leave for a little while, but I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” He reached out to touch the woman’s hand, his mother looking up at him confusingly. Although with her mother’s instinct, she quickly understood what Hunk was talking about. Sometimes mother had this mysterious power of foresight that was more than intimidating.

“How soon will that be?” She asked, reaching to embrace her son tightly.

“As soon as I can. I can’t say for sure, but I can’t stay here, otherwise they’ll come and take me away.” And it was those words that made her tighten her embrace.

“Stay safe.” She gave him one more squeeze before letting go. Hunk looked out at the children, silently saying his goodbyes. If he went up to them now, they’ll miss their opening to escape.

“I forgot that you promised to play with them. Hopefully they’ll forgive me for it.” He scratched the back of his head, sighing as he moved to walk over to the garage. Lance followed him once he bid his farewell to the mistress of the house, keeping close to Hunk.

“I’ll play with them when we get back, all of us.” Along with Keith and the rest of his friends.

“Right.” Hunk smiled at that, jumping into the car and opening the passenger door for Lance to enter. They sped out of the open garage, and as Hunk looked out of the car, he made extra effort to evade the roads he knew the Garrison had their people keeping watch on.

As soon as they were out of town, they were covered with smoke all around them. The sand raising up from the ground as the car went. Lance looked out in fright, “Is this suppose to happen?”

“Yeah.” Hunk nodded, “Did you never drive out in the desert before? No, that can’t be. You couldn’t have made it out here then.”

Lance realised he slipped up again, “Y-Yeah! Gets me every time.”

“You’ll get used to it. This smoke is nothing compared to when Keith takes out his hoverbike out for a spin. That thing can reach up to 200 miles per hour.”

“O-Oh, ah, that sounds impressive.” Lance smiled, not entirely sure what, exactly, a hoverbike was.

“It is, he and Shiro both have one.” Hunk hums, “Shiro is his brother, by the way, you’ll probably get a good shovel talk from him.”

Lance grimaced, not knowing what that was either, Keith hadn’t prepared him as much as they  had thought, apparently. But it seemed like his reaction was an appropriate one, because the human man gave him a look of sympathy. He reached out, patting the royal on the back tenderly, “Don’t worry about it buddy, I’m sure once you and Keith get talking then everything will work out.”

“I hope so.” Lance sighed, shifting a bit in the seating, “I’ve been reaching out for a long time now, but it hasn’t worked the way I wanted it to.”

“Hey, don’t worry man.” The human pat him reassuringly on the back again, “You and Keith just need to spend some time together, once you’ve done that than your bond should heal right up and everything should work good as new.”

“I hope so.” Lance sighed, leaning his head against the glass window as he stared out into the desert. The Garrison hadn’t realized that Hunk made a break for it yet, and hopefully it would take them some time before they did. With Hunk’s mother covering for them than they could hopefully make it a day or so before they did.

“How long will it take to find him?” Lance asked, turning back towards Hunk.

“It might take a while.” Hunk hummed, “I don’t know where it is, exactly, just a general idea.”

Lance groaned in frustration, sinking into the seat as he tried to disappear into it. He definitely wasn’t pouting, not at all, nope.

Hunk hummed in sympathy, “Hey, it's supposed to be easier and easier to strengthen a weakened bond the closer you get to someone. Why don’t you try and see it that helps us out at all?”

Lance closed his eyes, deciding to give it a try. He focused on the weak bond, trying to feel for the red string that would lead him to Keith. He felt something, small and weak. It wasn’t a real bond, far from it, but it was _there_.

His eyes snapped open, his finger pointing towards the direction his bond pulled, “That way.”

“You’re able to tell? Perfect!” Hunk turned the wheel, driving towards the direction Lance pointed at. It was in the same area he knew the shack was, giving him further confidence to follow Lance’s lead, “We’ll find him, just you wait and see.”

“I hope you’re right.” And hopefully they’ll be able to get to Keith before anyone else.

 

* * *

 

Keith felt uneasy, sitting on the couch while looking out of the window, feeling the pull of _something_  dragging him into the desert. He knew that something was there, but he couldn’t exactly tell what it was from just the feeling alone. It was strange, and by now, he knew that it wasn’t because of sleep deprivation. All he can do in the shack is sleep, so that’s what he did. He got more than enough sleep, which meant that this was a result of something else. He had enough food and water as well, which proved that this wasn’t a result of his mind playing with him.

He turned to Shiro, who was standing next to a map of the area, looking at it as a way to pass his time before Pidge and Matt would return. Keith took this chance, knowing fully well that Shiro was more likely to believe him than the Holt siblings, “Shiro?”

“Yeah?” The other replied, tilting his head just a little bit before turning back to look at the map.

“Do you feel something strange? I mean… As if there’s some kind of a strange energy calling out to you?” Keith tried, “Anything?”

The older brother turned to face him fully, his expression that of concern, “No? Should I?” Upon further inspection of his brother, Shiro got the memo, “What are you feeling?”

Keith leaned back against the couch, focusing on the mysterious force, “I can’t explain it, really. It’s as if… this mysterious force is telling me to search for something, but I don’t know what. It’s somewhere out in the desert, waiting for us to find it.”

“Something? Like a person?” Shiro asked confusingly.

“I don’t know.” But Keith couldn’t explain it, “I want to go look for it.”

“Keith, no.” Shiro moved forward, his hands coming to rest on the younger brother’s shoulders, “What if the aliens have some way to pull you towards them? This could be a trap.”

“But Shiro…” Keith trailed off, violet eyes moving to stare out the window in the vast desert sands, “...I...I _need_  to find it.”

“No Keith.” Shiro commanded firmly, leaving no room for argument, “This is obviously a trap. They’re trying to lure you out so they can take you.”

“No.” Keith shook his head, “It’s not...It’s not like that Shiro. This is something else. It’s calling for me…”

“I said no Keith!” Shiro snapped, shaking his head fiercely as he pulled the smaller boy into his arms. Keith was enveloped in a crushing embrace, his brother burying his face to the raven hair. Shiro held on desperately, rocking their bodies back and forth, “I won’t let them take you Keith. Not like they did with Sam.”

“Shiro.” Keith brought his arms up, wrapping them gently around the larger man’s shoulders, “Shiro, they’re not going to get me.”

“They’re trying to take you.” Shiro muttered against his scalp, “They’re going to take you and hurt you, and then I’ll never see you again.”

“Shiro, shhh.” Keith soothed, “It’s alright. This isn’t like that, I’m going to be fine. You can come with me, I promise it’s alright.”

“It’s too dangerous Keith. What if they spot us? They’d take you away and I wouldn’t be able to stop them.” The thought was frightening, prompting him to tighten his embrace. Keith squeezed him back in assurance, letting his brother know that he felt the same way.

“We can’t stay here forever, you know that. We have to start taking action, and I think that this strange energy will help us find an answer to our situation.” It was only a matter of time before the Garrison finds them. They’re already sitting ducks in a desert, surveyed by satellites from upper space.

Shiro didn’t want to admit it but Keith was right. They couldn’t stay here forever, however, that didn’t mean that they had to recklessly venture outside without a plan. He let go of his little brother, sitting up so that the were facing one another, “And are you sure that this energy isn’t the aliens trying to lure you in?”

“I don’t know.” Keith decided to be honest, “But it’s calling out to me, unlike anything I’ve felt before. It feels almost familiar, as if I’ve been in contact with this energy before. You know I would be against going outside, but it’s because that this energy is familiar that I’m confident to go.”

Shiro seemed conflicted, torn apart as to what they should do. He let his shoulders fall, sighing, “We’ll wait for Pidge and Matt to come back with the supplies. Then we can talk about going to find that energy source.”

“Sounds good.” Keith agreed and so the two waited for the other half of their group to arrive, passing the time by looking at the map or reading books. Eventually the two Holt siblings returned, carrying two bags of supplies.

“I better get something for this. It’s heavy.” Pidge struggled, Keith moving to help her carry the bag inside. It was filled with different foods and drinks as well, giving them more food to work with while they’re stranded in the shack.

“I’m sorry Keith, we couldn’t get to Hunk. The Garrison has him heavily guarded and we didn’t want to risk it. I knew you wanted some news on your soulmate but yeah… Maybe next time.” The girl shrugged, taking off her disguise before throwing herself back onto the mattress.

“Forget my soulmate for now.” Keith brushed off, feeling a familiar pang in his chest at the mention of the mysterious boy. He placed the bags down near their emergency stash, turning back towards the Holt siblings with clapped hands, “We have a plan.”

“Like, an actual plan?” Matt raised an eyebrow.

“Not really.” Shiro frowned, his disapproval still clear, “Keith feels some mysterious energy calling him.”

“Mysterious energy?” Pidge scoffed, “What magical mumbo jumbo is this?”

“Probably alien technology baiting Keith out.” Matt supplied, proving he was clearly Shiro’s soulmate by scoffing at the idea, “Why would you agree to this Shiro?”

“It’s not the aliens.” Keith frowned, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, “I don’t know what it is, but it’s so...familiar...I _need_  to go to it.”

“Okay, that’s weird.” Pidge spoke up. “This is clearly a trap.”

“Keith insists.” Shiro frowns, “And if he’s going to go than I would rather there be people there with him.”

“Oh nooooo.” Pidge growled, “I _just_  got back from walking two miles from the van carrying heavy bags.”

“Sorry Pidge.” Keith grimace, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

“Whatever.” Pidge huffed, turning around to grab a few water bottles and walk out the door, “Starting to wonder if you’re even worth this shit Kogane.”

The group followed her, Shiro being the only one with the good sense to bring a backpack full of supplies. They donned their hats and other various disguises, setting out into the desert in pursuit of the mysterious energy that haunted Keith.

The raven haired boy took the lead, allowing the strange pull of energy to lead him on his path. About twenty minutes into his walk and he was missing his bike, the heat baking his skin as he walked across the cracked desert floor. He stripped his jacket off, wrapping it around his waist, trying to rid himself of the heat.

Pidge, who couldn’t strip of her long sleeved shirt, glared at him hatefully.

“Not my fault you wear sleeves in summer.” Keith shrugged, taking a water bottle from her hands and popping the cap, taking a long shot of the water. He gasped, moving the water away, “It shouldn’t be too far away now. I can feel it getting closer.”

“Good. I can’t take any more of this heat.” Matt whined beside Shiro, wiping the sweat off his face. They all followed the pale boy as he went, not really knowing if their torture was worth it or not. Keith seemed determined enough though, so they followed in hopes that they would find something.

After walking for about thirty minutes, they found themselves near canyons, walking along the bottom. What they didn’t know, however, was that someone spotted them from the top, yellow eyes with no irises watching them before pressing a button on the hand plate of their armour.

Back at the bottom, Keith felt the energy much closer than before, spotting an entrance to a cave within one of the canyon walls. “There.” He pointed towards it, everyone looking up, “The energy source must be in that cave.”

“Are you sure Keith?” Shiro asked varily, “If it’s really a trap, then a cave would be the perfect setting for it. If we enter, we might not be able to get back ou-Keith!” The older brother yelled as he saw his younger brother slid towards it, following quickly after him.

“This batter be worth it or else I’m done with your sorry ass.” Pidge grumbled under her breath, both she and Matt following the two as they made it inside the cave. Once covered by the shade of the rock, they felt much better instantly. At least here they won’t be exposed to the scorching sun.

Keith’s eyes widened once he spotted carvings on the walls, looking around in awe. “Wow… What is this?” He asked, touching the said lines on the walls. They were everywhere and the cave was practically covered by them.

Shiro was stunned, looking around in shock. “Keith, how were you able to sense this? What’s happening?” He turned to his brother, “You have a lot of explaining to do, and I don’t want to hear that it’s just some ‘energy’ calling out to you.”

“But there’s no other way for me to explain it Shiro. You can see it for yourself.” He continued looking at the lines, both Pidge and Matt joining them and looking around.

“Is this it?” Pidge asked, eyes observing the rock, “There’s a lion drawn in almost every image.”

“The carvings tell a tale of some kind of a blue lion.” Keith looked further inside, the energy pulling him deeper within. “Let’s go further inside.”

“Is there something else inside?” Shiro asked, close behind his brother.

“I feel like there might be.” The group slowly walked further in, looking around at the carvings of unknown origins.

“How the hell did you know this was here Keith? What energy can you feel exactly?” Pidge asked, completely stunned. She won’t let the pale boy get out of this one, because this was shady as hell.

“I told you Pidge, I can’t really expla-” The ground under them began to shake, startling them as they began to fall down.

“I hate you Kogane!” Pidge yelled, holding onto Matt’s hair as they all fell down, eventually ending up in a puddle of water. They all groaned, slowly pushing themselves up and recovering from the fall until Keith looked up, eyes widening when he spotted a huge mechanical blue lion, covered in some kind of a forcefield, staring down at them. 

“What the actual hell?” Matt stood up, rubbing his head.

The four of them clamored to their feet, staring at the lion with wide eyes. It’s eyes glinted for a moment, like it was staring back at them. Keith frowned, staring at the mechanical creature, moving forward to place a gentle had on its barrier. The blue shield didn’t break, but the eyes glinted again.

“What is this?” Shiro asked, stepping next to Keith, “How were you able to sense this?”

“I don’t know.” Keith shook his head, eyeing the robot.

“Okay, this is freaky.” Matt moved forward, placing his own hands on the barrier gently, “Is this why the aliens want you so bad Keith? Because you find giant robots really easy?”

“I have no idea.” Keith huffed, crossing his arms, “I’ve got no idea why it was calling out to me like this.”

“This is starting to get really weird.” Pidge muttered, eyeing the robot, “And a little scary. Are you _sure_  you have no idea Keith?”

“I’m certain.” Keith crossed his arms, “I have no clue what’s up with me or this weird energy.”

“We may have still found out why the aliens wanted you though.” Shiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “If you can sense this thing, than maybe they found out somehow and wanted to find it.”

“Maybe.” Keith huffed.

“This is stupidly frustrating.” Pidge huffed, crossing her arms, “This only gives me a hundred more questions.”

“Hundred? I’d say about a thousand.” Matt pat the blue shield, the barrier not showing any signs of breaking, “But it looks like this is the farthest we can go. What do we do now?”

Keith remained calm, quietly staring at the lion in front of him. Shiro turned to him worriedly, more than concerned for his little brother. He was more than confused but also extremely worried for his little brother, “I don’t know what to think of this Keith. I don’t know what to say.”

“Neither do I Shiro. I just _felt it_. There’s no other way to explain it, I really don’t know.” Keith stressed his words, hoping that his brother would believe him. It was frustrating enough that he couldn’t explain it to himself, so the added weight of his group’s confusion didn’t help him at all.

“Okay.” Shiro looked up, eyes on the alien object, “Let’s try and make sense of this. We now know why the aliens are after you. If it’s this they want, then we know they won’t be destroying Earth anytime soon. If they try, they might destroy this along with us.”

“So that means that we have leverage over them.” Pidge let out a relieved sigh, “So they were bluffing all this time. They just want Keith, and they threatened us to get everyone to hand him over. For them to find this… thing.”

“We don’t know if anyone else is able to sense this energy so I don’t know if staying here would be safe for us.” Shiro had to make the call, “We should return to the shack and gather all of our things. Then we’ll relocate here.”

“Huh?” Both Pidge and Matt perked up at that, “We’ll be moving here?”

“It would be the safest place for us to be.” Shiro confirmed, “If they’re after this, then us being near it will give us an advantage.”

“I guess it’s better than the shack.” Pidge frowned, “More cool and all.”

“But how long would we stay here?” Matt sat down on the ground.

“For as long as it takes-”

“I must express my gratitude to you humans.” The group jumped when they heard a foreign voice, turning to spot an alien looking soldier standing by the entrance where they came from. He had purple skin, along with armour and an alien gun. “I knew the Blue Lion of Voltron was somewhere within the vicinity but the signal was being blocked by a third party. Thanks to you, I didn’t have to spend my time searching for it.” 

The group threw their hands up in surrender, no one having a weapon to fight back with expect Keith, who knew better than to bring a knife to a gunfight. Pidge, thought, couldn’t be stopped from sending a heated glare towards the giant, purple, alien creature, “Who the actu-”

A few more soldiers flooded the entrance way, their guns trained on the group. The first alien stepped up, placing a hand against the lion’s barrier, smirking as he turned towards his men, “Contact Emperor Zarkon, we’ve found the Blue Lion.”

Some of the soldiers moved, bringing communicators to their lips. The leader, who was easily the largest of the soldiers, stepped towards the party of four, his eyes on Keith. Shiro and Matt both stepped in front of the younger boy, but the raised guns pointed at them kept the two from actually doing anything productive to protect him. The alien just brushed past them, stopping in front of the pale boy and taking his chin in one, large, hand.

“Ugly creature.” The alien hummed, tilting Keith’s face from side to side, examining every feature, “Lovely eyes though. Still, how strange that you were able to sense the Blue Lion. I’m sure General Sendak would love to have his hands on you. Or perhaps Emperor Zarkon’s pet witch.”

“You your hands _off_  of him.” Shiro risked snapping, only for a soldiers to deck him with a gun handle. Shiro hissed, falling to his knees and quieting down, but his downright _hateful_  glare never eased up.

The alien leader licked his lips, going back to stare at Keith with interest. The boy in question had half a mind to stab the bastard for getting so up close and personal, but the ever present threat of guns on his friends and family made him grit his teeth and bare it. Still, the alien guy _was_  too touchy for his liking.

“I wonder if this is why the Alteans are here.” The leader hummed, eyes flickering towards the Lion, “Or if it’s something else…?”

The alien leader seemed to make up his mind then, reaching down his hand and grabbing Keith’s arm, yanking him along none-too-gently, “Come on men, Emperor Zarkon will want to know how we found the Lion.”

“Keith!” Pidge tried calling after him, but with the guns pointed at her, she could do nothing to stop the alien soldiers taking away her best friend. Shiro thrashed against the ground, unwilling to let the aliens take away his only family. None of them could do anything though, and Shiro ended up being hit by the gun once again before yelling out in pain.

“Let go!” Keith growled out, struggling against the aliens, even with the guns pointed at him.

“Resist us and we’ll shoot you human.” The Galra leader threatened, pulling on Keith’s arm, “If you don’t want your friends hurt, then I suggest you listen to what I say.”

“Keith! Don’t worry about us! We can-”

“Silence!” Another alien hit Pidge, making her fall down onto the ground with a thud. Keith tried to get out of the alien’s hold, but was unable to do anything. He clenched his jaw tightly, his free hand folded into an iron fist.

He turned to the leader, growling in fury, “Let go.” He demanded, and this time it seemed to work because the soldier took a step back, however his hold still remaining strong. Unknown to Keith, his eyes completely changed, the white replaced by yellow while his pupils widened into a cat like shape.

The alien leader grinned, punching Keith into his stomach, but was blocked by the said human. Keith tried to punch the other, managing to hit him, but because of the armour, the damage was minimal. It ended up in the alien landing a harsh punch against his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.

“Interesting. Looks like we found ourselves a hybrid.” He picked Keith up, dropping the unconscious body onto his shoulder. “We’ll see if they decide to put you in the gladiator ring.”

Those words made fear shoot up Shiro’s entire being, giving him the power to try and fight them again. He managed to knock off a guard that had his foot on him, but in the end he was shot, falling down onto the ground immediately. “Shiro!” Tears were at the ends of Pidge’s eyes, powerless to do anything to stop them.

“I remember you!” One of the other aliens said, pointing at Shiro, “You’re the champion! You fought in the ring!”

“Ohhh…” The leader hummed, eyes narrowing on Shiro’s figure with amusement in his eyes. “Take him. We’ll see if he can fight to uphold his title in the ring.”

The soldiers took Shiro as well, and with the two prisoners, they made their way out of the cave. “Those two will remain here. Cruisers should arrive any dobash now to pick up the Blue Lion of Voltron. We’ll go ahead and take these two with us on our fighter jets.” The leader told his fellow men, eyeing Pidge and Matt who were on the ground. “Wait for backup to arrive, then take them with you.”

And with that the leader left, leaving a horrified Pidge and Matt behind.

 

* * *

 

“Is this it?” Lance asked anxiously, eyeing a single shack that they spotted in the desert, literally built in the middle of nowhere.

“That’s it. Wow, I never could have found it without your help buddy. You saved us a lot of time.” Hunk drove towards it while Lance anxiously waited for the car to approach, opening the door before the vehicle could even stop, jumping out and running into the shack. “H-Hey! That was dangerous!” Hunk yelled after him, but Lance didn’t care.

He reached for the handle hurriedly, opening the door in excitement, “Keith!” But as soon as he saw that the shack was empty, his smile dropped, looking around the empty room. He could feel that Keith was here, he must have been. But then why… Their bond was still catching up, which meant that he must have followed Keith’s trace while he was still here. He tried to focus on the fragile red string once again feeling it pull him towards somewhere in the desert.

“They’re not here?” Hunk stood at the doorway, looking into the shack in surprise, “How? I was _so sure_  that they would be here. Why would they even go out of they’re trying to hide?” It didn’t make any sense.

“They went somewhere else.” Lance walked up to Hunk, heading back into the car, “I can sense a pull somewhere in the desert. We have to follow it.”

“Okay.” Hunk agreed, walking up to the driver’s side to get back into the vehicle. However, it was just when they were about to get in that massive ships emerged from the sky, Hunk’s jaw dropped, spotting purple glowing alien cruisers hover above the sky. “What is that!? More aliens!?”

Lance’s eyes were wide, staring at the new cruisers in surprise, “The Galra.” They must have followed them to Earth, but why? Do they plan to fight against the Alteans on this planet?

Sudden gunfire shook the both of them, watching as the Galra cruisers began firing on Altean ones, starting a battle. This wasn’t good, “Get in! We have to mov-” Lance paused, eyes gaining a tint of violet as various images ran though his mind.

Venturing out into the desert.

Carvings of a blue lion.

The Blue Lion of Voltron.

Galra.

Capture.

Once the visions vanished, Lance remained standing in place, his eyes returning back to their blue colour. The Galra took Keith, and now they’re going to take him to the cruisers. The Blue Lion of Voltron… “We have to go!” He yelled, getting into the car as quickly as he could. Hunk remained frozen in place, but once Lance pulled on his shirt, he fell down into his seat. “We have to go! Quickly! Follow my directions!”

”I-I-I don’t know man. Are you sure we can drive out in the desert like this while there are aliens battling it out in the sky? We’ll get ourselves killed!” The human was in full out panic mode, worry and fear evident in his eyes.

“We have no other choice! We have to go or else we’ll-” A sudden gunfire landing nearby shook their car, and managed to snap Hunk out of it, prompting him to turn on the engine and speed away quickly.

“We’re doomed! We’re dead! What have I gotten myself into!?”

“Hunk! That way! Quick!” Lance pointed to the left and Hunk obeyed, turning the car to where Lance was pointing. By some miracle, they managed to evade the gunfire but who knows how long that will last. The royal felt his communication device beeping, switching it on before a holographic screen showing Allura appeared.

“Lance! We’re under attack! Where are you!? Are you hurt!?” The Altean woman flinched when a powerful blast managed to hit their particle barrier, shaking up their ship. “

“I’m fine, but Keith was captured! The Galra scouts are taking him into one of those cruisers!” Lance held on as Hunk drove ridiculously quick.

“Is that an Altean!?” The human screeched, “What’s happening!? Wait! Don’t tell me you’re an alien! Are you? I mean, you look human. Maybe I’m just hallucinating? Right! This is all one big dream Hunk, don’t worry, you’ll snap out of-WHOA!” Hunk pulled on the wheel, managing to evade a blast just in time, but this in return made the driver lose control of the car, crashing it into a rock wall. Luckily the humans invented airbags, that shielded them from the impact.

Lance fought against the airbag, spotting the cave entrance just out of the corner of his eyes. “Allura, I’m gonna go get Keith. You take care of the cruisers.”

“What but-” The connection was cut, Lance putting the device back into his pocket before getting out of the car. He helped Hunk out as well, the human a shaky mess.

“What’s happening man? You have no idea how confused I am.” He’d never been so lost in his entire life.

“I’ll explain everything later but for now we have to run!” The royal took his hand, both of them running to the cave now, managing to make it there. They didn’t waste the time to go deep inside, and luckily, the coast was clear for the most part. That is until they reached a giant hole in the ground that was guarded by two Galra soldiers.

Lance clenched his jaw, reaching to take out a gun he’d hidden on his back and under his shirt, firing at the Galra and managing to take them down. Hunk stood in place stunned, blinking as Lance lowered the gun, taking cautious steps forward. “You really are an alien, are you? No but then how come…”

“I promise I’ll explain everything later. Your friends are in danger, we have to help them.” Blue eyes met Hunk’s hazel ones, the human weakly nodding before joining Lance, walking behind him as they made their way further inside.

They slid through the hole, falling down before ending up in a puddle of water. They looked up when they heard guns being readied to be fired, Lance taking immediate action to shoot at them before they could, managing to take out the two Galra that were there.

Among with the Galra, there were two humans there as well, seated on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. “Hunk!” Pidge’s face lit up, and Hunk soon found himself running towards them, taking off their handcuffs.

“Thank god! I thought you were dead! What’re you doing in here!?” The Samoan asked worriedly while Pidge turned to face him.

“We followed Keith down here. Said something about feeling some kind of energy pulling him to this place so-Who is he!?” Pidge turned to Lance, eyeing the gun in his hand. “Are you an alien? Who are you!?”

“Sis, calm down.” Matt tried to calm her, “I think that’s a human.”

“I’m actually not.” Lance’s words surprised them all, “But we don’t have time to talk about it now. We have to follow the Galra fighters.”

“They have Keith!” Pidge jumped up, feeling the panic deep within her bones.

“And Shiro too!” Matt stood up with her, just as panicked, “What do we do?”

Lance looked up at the blue lion, feeling her silent growling within his mind. He walked up to her barrier, knocking on it before it vanished, freeing the lion of it’s confines. As soon as the particle barrier disappeared, Blue stood up on all fours, letting out a loud roar before lowering her head down to let them inside.

“Wow… How did you do that?” Pidge asked in awe, holding onto Matt in fright.

“I could hear her voice.” Lance closed his eyes, his Altean marks slowly appearing on his face. Brown hair began turning white and soon, he was back to his original appearance. He turned to the humans who gasped as soon as they landed their eyes on him.

“It’s you! You’re that Altean royal that wants Keith!” Pidge hissed, taking a step towards him, "What do you want with Keith!? Is this all your doin-” She didn’t get to finish before more Galra soldiers emerged, firing at them.

“We don’t have time for this! Get inside! Quick!” Lance ran into Blue, Hunk, Pidge and Matt quickly following behind him. Once they were all inside, the Blue Lion closed her jaw, letting out another roar.

Inside the cockpit, Lance jumped into the pilot seat, taking control of the sticks before the instruments lit up in blue colour. The rest of the humans surrounded him, holding onto the seat as he moved the stick, Blue breaking through the rock wall and finally coming out into the open.

The mechanical lion began running through the desert, eventually taking flight into the sky. “Y-You’re the worst pilot ever!” Pidge yelled out while Hunk threw up all over, getting some of his throw up onto poor Matt.

Lance ignored them in favour of figuring out the controls, unsure but focused on finding where Keith was. He tugged on the red string, feeling that Keith was already inside one of those cruisers. With determination, Lance moved the sticks, Blue flying to fire onto the said cruiser, trying to destroy it’s particle barrier.

A pop up suddenly appeared, showing Allura on the screen, “Lance! How did you manage to find the Blue Lion!?”

“No time to explain.” The royal focused on the barrier, close to destroying it, “Help me out Allura, Keith is inside that cruiser.”

“On it.” His sister nodded and soon the Altean ship focused it’s fire onto the said cruiser.

“Hold on a second! How can we trust you? What do you want?” Pidge demanded, hovering beside Lance as he tried to focus on the battle ahead. A blast was fired towards them, passing the Blue Lion by a hair’s length.

They all held on tightly as the blast passed, Lance clenching his jaw. “You don’t have any other choice but to trust me right now. We all want to save Keith so move away.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!” Pidge hissed back while Hunk screeched.

“Guys! _Guys_!” He pointed to the front as Blue managed to evade another blast. Lance fired the mouth cannon, aiming it’s full power onto the barrier. He finally managed to take it down, but it was just then that Allura sounded through the comms.

“They’re trying to jump into hyperspace!” She yelled, sending a pang of fear through Lance. He fastened his attempts to shoot at the cruiser, attempting to get inside the hangar. However, even though he managed to black through the outerior, he was pushed away by the force of the sudden hyperspace jump, the Galra cruisers disappearing.

“No! No! _No!_  Keith!” Lance yelled, looking up at the spot where the Galra cruiser vanished, leaving no trace behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: BBell would like to say she loves you all and hopes you have a nice day. ♡♡♡♡
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: The first image is a screenshot taken from s1ep1. I thought it'd be cool to add it since Blue is the main focus of the chapter. Then images 2 & 3 are just edited screenshots as well. They were a lot less work than images for the previous chapters XD Anyway, we're finally going into space!
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	5. Fierce Fire

Keith growled as he was thrown rather forcibly into something like a cell, the alien leader only bother to sneer and tell him to quiet down before some kind of glass shield shot up and cut him off from any escape. He wasn’t giving up _that_  easily though, standing up and beating against the shield with both fists as he tried to break free.

He snarled, frustrated by the fruitless task. He turned and sank down the wall, sitting right there on the floor. The whole cell was metal, aside from the weird door, and it was startlingly empty. There weren’t even other prisoners in this particular cell, which was concerning considering how many people Keith had glimpsed in other cells, was concerning.

He wrapped his arms around his legs, letting his chin prop on his knee as he glared at the entrance. They would be back eventually, and he’d be ready for them when they…

Or not, because a small troop of soldiers flanked the outside of his cell. A _huge_ , furry, purple alien with a red, cybernetic, eye and large bat-like ears stood front and center. He walked up, tapping against the glass with a smirk. The toothy grin was enough to make Keith want to punch him in the face. The man was large though, the largest person he’d ever seen, and stood safely behind the shield. Even so, the pale boy sent his most heated glare towards the man, making sure all the contempt he felt melted through the one look.

“So, this is the hybrid.” The man was eyeing Keith, some amusement in his eyes, “And you said he was the one who sensed the Lion?”

“Yes sir.” The alien leader from before stepped up, “Though he cannot be the paladin. The Lion did not let him through the barrier. We believe he may just be quintessence sensitive.”

“Very sensitive if he was able to find the Lion that easily.” The giant alien grinned down at Keith, still tapping against the invisible wall, “He’d make a good Druid if they decide to break him.”

“We have contacted Emperor Zarkon about the latest events.” The alien not-leader informed the giant, “He isn’t pleased to have lost the Blue Lion, but he _is_  pleased we have captured a hybrid capable of sensing them. It’s a poor prize, but we believe he could prove valuable to his witch.”

“Ah, yes, the witch.” The giant leaned in, “You hear that halfling? You’ve probably spent your whole life safe on that backwater, but you’re ours now.”

“Where am I?” Keith spoke, sitting up from his place on the ground and walking over to the invisible wall. “Where is my brother?” He felt that in this moment he couldn’t show weakness, but rather face the aliens head on, no matter how intimidating they may seem.

“You must mean the champion.” The larger alien smirked, “He’s in another cell, and as soon as we get to Emperor Zarkon’s ship he’ll return to fighting in the ring.”

Keith hit the wall with his fist, snarling up at the larger alien, “If you hurt him I’ll kill you.”

The alien hummed, pleased by Keith’s performance, “It looks like you really do have some Galra in you. I’m sure that with prolonged contact you’ll be able to learn quickly of our ways. Not that a lowly hybrid like you could ever become anything but a laughing stock to us purebloods.”

The Galra turned to leave, but before they could, the larger one tilted his head to Keith one more time, “I’m General Sendak, and you’re on _my_  ship. If you don’t want any bruises on your pretty little face, then you’ll do what we ask of you. If you decide to heed my warning or not is up to you, but if you still decide to act rebellious, then I’ll punish you myself with pleasure.” Sendak’s grin widened before turning to leave, leaving Keith alone in his cell.

Keith stood up, punching the glass barrier with a frustrated scream. The giant ignored him though. Violet eyes narrowed on the alien’s...the Galra’s back. He snarled, smacking the barrier again as he yelled after him, “Get back here! Take me to my brother!”

It was too late though, they were already gone through the hallways. Keith let out another frustrated snarl as he beat his first against the glass again. He slipped back to the ground, hands sore. He growled more a he sank, his forehead leaning against the glass as he was left all alone.

 

* * *

 

Lance paced around the castles’ council room, his sister watching from her position at the table, Coran standing by her side. The human friends of his soulmate that he’d picked up seated as well, several guards keeping the most temperamental of them at bay. Hunk, the human he had befriended, squirmed in his seat uncomfortably.

“We do have the Blue Lion now.” One of the generals spoke, “And a paladin for it! We have an advantage over the Galra.”

“It is meaningless without all the Lions.” Allura spoke, eyeing the general, “And according to our intelligence the Galra already have the Red Lion.”

“Still, finding the Blue Lion _and_  a pilot is no small feat.” Another counselor spoke, scratching his beard, “It will keep Zarkon away from the Black Lion if nothing else.”

“A fine argument, but it doesn’t help the situation at hand.” Coran spoke from beside Allura, “The boy we came here for has been taken. And if the Galra have him than they have Prince Lance’s life within their hands.”

“And what does _that_  mean, exactly?” The smallest human hissed, glaring harshly from their place seated at the counsel table. Their brother tried to placate them, but they were clearly quite affronted by the situation, “Why were you even looking for Keith? What did he have to do with any of this?”

“Pidge…” Hunk spoke, trying to calm his friend, “Not during the scary royal alien meeting please.”

“I don’t want to hear that from the guy that _lead the alien prince hunting Keith down to us_.” Pidge side eyed the boy.

“I didn’t know that at the time. He looked completely human.” Hunk defended but Pidge was having none of it.

“Still, you _led him to us_ , and now that we’re here, I want the answers I’m looking for.” Her eyes moved onto the royal prince, arms folded as she stared at him, “Why do you want Keith? What was so important that you would have destroyed our planet over it?”

“I wouldn’t have destroyed anything. It was a bluff.” Lance paused in his pacing, facing the human girl, “I already told you that I was looking for him because he’s my soulmate. I didn’t lie to you about that Hunk.”

The said human blinked, still confused. Pidge had something to say to that though, “How can you be soulmates? You know that Keith’s soulmark is a scrabble, right?”

“Are you trying to say that my name is a scrabble?” That irritated the royal, walking over to Pidge before touching a spot on the table in front of her, a holoscreen appearing before them. Words of different kinds showed up, confusing the three humans who looked at it.

“Look! That’s one of the letters that’s on Keith’s soulmark!” Or is it? “It looks the same.” Hunk tilted his head to the side as Lance proceeded to explain the meaning behind those words to them.

He pointed at one letter at a time, “This is the Altean Alphabet. This is ‘L’, ‘A’, ‘N’, ‘C’, and ‘E’. If you put them in one word, this is what it’ll look like. He brought the words together to form his name, the holoscreen moving to show it. The humans stared in disbelief as an exact copy of Keith’s soulmark showed up.

“It’s completely the same. This is Keith’s soulmark.” Hunk noted while Pidge tilted her glasses, astonished herself. She looked up at Lance again, unwilling to believe him just yet.

“Then show us your soulmark.” She challenged, and the royal accepted, pulling down the collar of his shirt just enough so that she could see Keith’s name on his collarbone. It was at this point that the humans were fully convinced that the Altean was telling the truth.

“Holy shit.” It was rare for Matt to swear like that but he did it, shocked by their discovery.

“Prince Lance, I’m deeply disturbed that your soulmate had been taken captive, but I believe that with the addition of the Blue Lion we’ll be able to gain an upper hand in this war. If anything, we can prevent Zarkon from gaining the Black Lion.” One of the Generals spoke again, Lance taking in a deep breath before facing them all.

“Our first priority is retrieving Keith. As my sister said, if Keith is in their hands, then my life is at risk. Even if we manage to retrieve the Red Lion from the Galra, if I die, we’ll lose a paladin for the Blue Lion.” In the end they can’t progress without Keith.

But that confused the humans yet again, “What do you mean by that?” Matt asked this time for the three of them.

“Unlike your race, we Alteans are more fragile when it comes to our soulmate connection. To us a soulmate bond is sacred and something that should never be tainted. I believe that, for the most part, our soulmate connection mirrors yours, that is with a few exceptions. Unlike humans, we are able to meet with our soulmate in an astral plane, a space built from the connection soulmates share. Also, we are able to share our emotions with our soulmates.” Coran explained.

“Emotions? Like fear? Happiness? And all that?” Hunk raised his hand up, as if he was in a classroom.

“Exactly!” The elder Altean nodded, “Perhaps your species didn’t yet discover that soulmate bond is able to do that. We know that you are a young species so it is to be expected. Eventually you’ll learn.”

“But that still doesn’t explain how Lance can die if Keith is in danger.” Pidge hissed, “Get to that part.”

“Right.” Coran got back on track, “You see, since we are quintessence sensitive beings, well, more sensitive than your race, then the soulmate bond affects us on a much deeper level. I won’t go into detail, because that would take too long, but in the case that this young lad Keith were to have his connection with Lance broken, then it will result in the young prince dying. The cutting of a connection forcefully is the worst thing that can happen to us, and guarantees a certain death.”

“A forceful cutting of the connection?” Hunk’s face immediately morphed into that of worry, “How is that even possible?”

“It is.” Allura closed her eyes, “The Galra have a witch among them that is fully capable of breaking a bond between soulmates. She operates close to Zarkon and is his closest ally. Once they find Keith’s soulmark, she will undoubtedly begin torturing him.”

The three humans froze.

“But we are able to stop it.” One of the Generals spoke up again, “From what my men have gathered, they’ve entered hyperspace which took them to the far side of Arus. We should be able to follow them, but from then on, we will have to rely on the prince to guide us to their location.”

Lance clenched his jaw, “I don’t know… My connection with Keith was weak to begin with. I doubt he will be able to tell me anything.” Unless Keith finally begins to remember who he is… But even now they’ve never met, and with the danger of their connection being broken further, it might complicate them being able to sense each other.

“It’s our only chance of finding your soulmate. You _have_  to try Lance.” Allura stressed, the prince meeting his sister’s worried eyes. He succumbed, determined on trying to establish a connection.

“I’ll try, but it might take me a bit before Keith and I can establish a connection.” And there was no saying they even could.

“Excellent, then we’ll jump into hyperspace while you prepare your majesty. We’ll be leaving planet Earth shortly.” A General noted, the humans flinching at that.

“Leaving Earth? Like into space?” Hunk felt a cold shiver run through him, unable to imagine going into space, somewhere completely unknown to him.

“We’ll have to leave if we want to find Keith.” Pidge clenched her hand, “I’m not about to lose my best friend… the same way I lost my dad…” She doesn’t think she’ll be able to handle that.

“Then I believe we have a plan.” The Generals slowly stood up, “We’ll contact you with further information your highness.” They bowed to both Allura and Lance, that is before Allura’s words stopped them in their tracks.

“I do think we’ve overlooked a major strengthening of our forces.” Allura turned to the humans, the generals looking at her confusingly, “I believe we may have found ourselves paladins of the Green Lion and the Yellow Lion as well.”

That got everyone’s attention, “What do you mean princess?”

“It’s just as I say.” She focused her attention on Pidge and Hunk, “I sense that their quintessence mirrors that of the Green and Yellow Lions. With some preparation, I believe that we’ll have three Lions of Voltron ready to attack Sendak’s cruiser once we locate them.”

“U-Us? Flying giant space cats?” Hunk shivered while Pidge stood up from her seat.

“When do we begin?” The girl was determined, meeting Allura’s eyes.

“Right now. Coran and I will be in charge of your training while my brother focuses on reconnecting with his soulmate. I believe that the lions will accept you as their paladins, but then again, a pilot never chooses it’s lion, it’s the lion that chooses you.”

“And you really believe we’ll be able to do it?” Hunk asked hesitantly.

“Of course! If the princess says it, then it will be done!” Coran walked over to the two, placing his hands on their shoulders, “Once I’m done with you, you’ll become the true paladins of Voltron!”

“Uhh… And me?” Matt pointed at himself, Coran blinking.

“You can help me with their training young lad! There’s never enough help!” The older Altean smirked, patting their shoulders.

“Listen, guys, I’m not sure how comfortable I am sending my teenage sister into war.” Matt spoke hp, sifting nervously.

“Matt, this may be the _only_  way to get Keith and Shiro back.” Pidge stood, eying the older Altean, “If this is what it takes then I’m going to do it.”

Matt looked distinctly uncomfortable with the idea, but Pidge left no room for argument, silently walking up to Coran with a determined glint in her eye. Hunk groaned, looking every bit like he regretted all his life choices up until this point. It went ignored in the face of Pidge and Lance’s sheer determination though.

“Let’s do it.” Lance stood, moving to grab Hunk and stand him up, “The faster we do this the fast we find Keith.”

“And Shiro.” Matt cut in.

“And Shiro.” Lance nodded, pushing the large Samoan boy forward. The other groaned again, but gave in at the reminder of his missing friends.The group filed together, heading for the bay where they would see if the two new passengers would connect with the Lions.

 

* * *

 

Now that he was back in the rings, Shiro was beginning to remember _very_  well why he had been so scared the Galra would return.

It was horrible, with barely protective clothes and desperately fighting prisoners. It was horrible, with cellmates turning on each other within a moment just to keep from being dragged towards the labs and ending up in a worse position than before.

Shiro, though, he didn’t have that problem. Instead he very specifically was giving the most bloodthirsty monsters to fight. Huge and hulking beast, usually with razor talons, ready and willing to tear the flesh off his bones. Sometimes he had other Galra, ones who enjoyed fighting in the arena and made a career out of it.

Whatever he was fighting, the Galra always made a big show out of it, and today was no exception. He was their “champion” after all, and he’d finally been returned after two long years of escape. They were downright throwing a celebration. And when they celebrated, they threw him directly into the path of some pretty vicious monsters.

The worst part, though, was not knowing where Keith was.

He doubted that his brother ended up in the arena as well, the group that captured them making it _very_  clear Keith had _something_  special about him that needed to be studied, but that lead to far worse possibilities that Shiro didn’t dare think of while in the ring itself.

Namely Haggar.

Oh, he remembered Haggar now. The sheer dread and worry her name gave when he’d heard it again sank to his very bones, and the thought that she may have _Keith_ , his small brother who had been through enough and was being hunted by another species...it was almost too much for him to take. It was as bad as not knowing where Matt was.

And, oh, what had they done with Matt and Pidge? Where had they taken them? Shiro didn’t even have a clue. All he had now were the cheers of the Galra as he entered the ring again, ready for another fight.

 

* * *

 

Keith snarled at the two Galra sentries that were holding him on each side, restraining him as they led him down a long dark hallway. From what he’d heard, their ship had managed to read another where this supposed ‘Haggar’ was, which meant that they were most likely taking him to her right now. At least that was his guess for now.

In favour of feeding upon his fear, some of the Galra had let him know that Shiro was already in the ring, fighting his first ‘welcome back’ battle. It made Keith freeze with worry, almost trembling with the notion that his older brother would experience the same torture he experienced two years ago.

He had to go to Shiro. He didn’t care what happened to him as long as he gets to his brother.

But that wasn’t possible, at least not for now when there were no openings he could use. Walking down the hallway, he and the group of Galra guards met with a single figure, completely covered in a cloak and a long mask. It tilted his head to the side in a way that Keith knew wasn’t possible by human standards, making him flinch in fright.

“Is that the hybrid?” The figure asked, eyes on Keith as it stared holes into his very being.

“Yes, he was able to find the Blue Lion of Voltron. We believe that his sensitivity to quintessence is something that might interest the witch.” A Galra guard informed, the figure humming as a slim hand reached to grab Keith’s chin, holding it with a tight grip within its palm.

“I’ll take it from here. You are dismissed.” The figure, a Druid, said. Suddenly two more figures appeared out of thin air, startling Keith who flinched when they grabbed at his sides, holding him tightly. The one holding his chin let go, turning to the Galra soldiers. “The high priestess will be pleased.”

And with that Keith was handed over, the Galra leaving him in the hands of these mysterious figures. If he had a choice, Keith would rather remain with the Galra because these figures seemed _even_  worse. As if that was possible, it really looked like it was.

He was taken to a darker part of the ship and eventually into a room with an iron bed in the centre. The door hissed closed behind him as his eyes landed on a single figure that was in a room, covered with a cloak of purple colour. All Keith could see was long white hair along with glowing yellow eyes that stared at him from under the hood.

“High priestess.” The druids bowed, “We’ve brought the hybrid.”

“Good.” A dark voice sounded, “Strap him to the table.” She commanded and the Druids obliged. Keith didn’t have it in him to struggle for long before he found his back touching the cold metal, his hands and feet restrained to the bed. He tried to make it difficult for them, he wouldn’t give them that leisure, but even that proved to be difficult when powerful slim hands grabbed him, pushing him down with brute force.

The woman, or what Keith thought was a woman, moved to stand beside him, eyes glowing as they looked down at him. “Now then, what is so special about you I wonder?”

“I won’t talk.” The pale boy hissed, “Not until you let my brother go.”

There was no reaction from them, not even an indication that they were laughing like the Galra did. At this moment, Keith would even prefer that to this torturous atmosphere he found himself in.

“You’re in no position to place demands, hybrid filth.” The high priestess moved her hand to hover above him, some form of dark magic forming in the palm of her hand before it attacked him, making him scream out in pain. He tried to resist it, feeling it search every inch and corner of his very being.

Then he felt something strange, a foreign sensation as if a string was being pulled within him. He felt stronger pain curse through him, torturing him before suddenly ceasing. He panted, eyes wide as tears began building up at the ends of his eyes.

The witch moved her hand away, “You have proven to be a valuable asset to us indeed.” And after she said that, two Druids moved to tug at his clothes, revealing his soulmark that was on his collarbone. They seemed to stare at it for a bit before the witch spoke again, “With your help, I’ll be able to kill Altean royalty.”

“Get off.” Keith struggled, straining against his bindings, “Get off, get off, get off.”

The witch or whatever she was didn’t listen to him. Instead she moved her longer fingers over his soulmark, pressing against the sensitive skin and breaking a social taboo that was very uncomfortable. She pressed hard against the skin, digging her nails inside.

Then the pain began.

It was like being electrocuted, he thinks, with a fire burning in his skin and shocks running through his body. He arches, his throat dried and unable to scream as the shock coursed through his body, something tore inside of him, something he didn’t know was there. He spasmed, body twitching violently against the table, going limp once it stopped.

Then it started again, this time worse, and black began to creep across his vision.

Suddenly he was surrounded by millions of stars against an indigo sky, a black sun shining against him even as the pain spilled over his body. He couldn’t scream, he couldn’t even move, he just fell onto the reflective pool beneath him, jerking and twitching.

There was something digging inside him, far beneath the skin, and he could feel it digging through his veins, destroying him from the inside out. It was like maggots, devouring everything it touched, leaving shocking pain as it went. He grit his teeth, trying to force himself up, but it was no use. He was useless, the pain dragging him down and leaving him useless against the pool beneath him. He could see himself, reflected, pasty and pale with _something_  awful shining through his skin, all along his veins. Long fingers tried to claw at himself, but he couldn’t move his hands, a harsh reminder of where he really was.

The mark on his collar burned, a scorching pain, like a fresh branding.

The pain was unbearable, just like fire enveloping him whole and burning his very being. For the first time since he could remember, he felt a presence of a fragile string within him, the fire reaching that as well, but unable to burn it fully. It did manage to damage it though, and at the sight of it Keith felt deep sorrow take root deep within.

He had to protect the string. It was all he had.

But the fire was unforgiving, tearing at him until it suddenly stopped, leaving him motionless against the cold metallic bed under him. He could faintly make out the figures hovering above him, his eyes hazes as he stared up at them.

He felt his soulmark burn, traces of the poison lingering around his entire body. He was weak, as weak as he’d ever been. Barely holding onto consciousness but unwilling to let himself drift off with these figures so close to him.

“The bond is weak. It will only take a couple of days for us to fully break it.” The witch said, and Keith barely managed to make out her words, “Take him back to his cell. We’ll begin anew after I meet with his lordship and inform him of the news.”

And that was when Keith couldn’t stay awake any longer. Overtaken by complete darkness.

 

* * *

 

“Whoa! Sweet!” Pidge grinned as she came face to face with the Green Lion of Voltron, looking up to it in awe. Allura, Hunk, Matt, Coran and Lance stood by her side, waiting to see if the lion will accept her as it’s paladin.

“You have to present yourself to the lion and see if it will accept you.” Allura informed with a smile, “If it does, you’ll become it’s rightful paladin.”

“So I just walk in front of it?” The girl asked as she took a step forward, walking up the lion so that she was standing right before it. She looked up at its eyes, touching the forcefield that was around it. As soon as she did, the forcefield broke and the lion came to life, it’s eyes glowing with a bright yellow colour.

It let out a loud roar, shaking up the castleship as it came to life after so long of being asleep. The others watched in smiles, while the remaining humans jumped in fight, worried that the lion might eat them.

“Congratulations. You’ve now become a paladin of the Green Lion of Voltron.” Allura congratulated before turning to Hunk, “Now we’ll see if the Yellow Lion will accept you as well.”

“Wow… I don’t know man… Will I be what the lion would want?” Hunk was uncertain, scratching the back of his neck.

“What’re you talking about Hunk!” Matt pat him on the shoulder with more force, “You’re a bundle of all different kinds of talents.”

“Yeah!” Pidge agreed, “You can cook, fix all kinds of junk, you’re kind, supportive and just a fluff ball full of love. What’s there not to love?”

“ _Guys_.” The Samoan blushed, “Too much kindness is being thrown my way.”

“Well, you deserve it.” Lance placed his hand on the human’s shoulder, “You helped me out and made this incredible food. I have no doubt that the Yellow Lion will accep-” He paused when he felt a sharp pang of energy pierce through him, as if a spear had pierced him directly on his chest.

Lance fell down onto his knees, hand instinctively moving to touch his soulmark that was beginning to burn. He felt as if there was something within him, destroying him from the inside out. There were tears at the edges of his eyes, breathing harsh as the sudden wave of incredible pain washed over him.

“Lance!” Allura’s voice called out. He felt someone pull him up, but he couldn’t make it out over the indescribable pain he felt. It burned, and worse it burnt _cold_. He reached out, gripping at the arms that held him as he tried to fight through the pain.

“Lance! Buddy! Are you okay?” Hunk’s voice broke through to him, “Speak to me man!”

“He’s being attacked!” Someone he thinks may be Coran yells, “They’re getting him through the soul bond.”

“You mean they’re torturing Keith right now!” Another voice demands. And those words make him tear up far more than the pain ever could, because if this is what _he_  felt than he could only imagine what Keith was going through right now. The royal reached out, trying to crawl towards the Lions, he had to get to Keith, he _had_  to.

It was useless though, the arms were holding him back, “Whoa, hey buddy, you’re not in any shape to be moving right now.”

“K-K-eeeei-” He tried to explain, he really did, but the words wouldn’t come out the way he wanted. Instead he was just a garbled mess, desperately reaching out for something that wasn’t there. He could see it, the red thread that bond him and Keith together, thin and taut and fraying at the edges.

Keith. Keith. _Keith_.

Where was Keith? He had to get him out of there, away from the Galra. He had to or they would both die.

Lance sniffed, feeling it when his body was lifted off the floor, “Matt, help me out.”

“If they’re doing that to Keith then what are they doing to Shiro?” He heard the other bo should, on the verge of near panic, “Oh Dio, what are they doing…”

“We don’t have time for this! We need to sedate Lance now and do something.” Another voice, more faded and echoed, called out.

Then, suddenly and all at once, the pain stopped. It was slow at first, the pain lingering even after the strongest of the onslaught had stopped, but even the aftershocks faded, leaving nothing but the mark ripped with horrible pain. Blue eyes blinked away the tears, his body limp and sore as he reached up to trace the soulmark on his shoulder.

It was easily the most pained part of him now, a stabbing pain burning through it even now, like a knife twisting in a fresh wound. The royal sniffed, letting his fingers trace over it.

The mark was still there. It was still there. And the red string that connected him to Keith was there as well, still weak, but present. It was living proof that their bond had yet to be broken, that Keith was still alive and waiting for him in a Galra prison, that there was still time  and he wasn’t about to die.

“We’re okay.” Lance sniffed, his voice hoarse and dry, “He’s alive.”

“Oh, thank the stars.” Allura breathed from somewhere beside him.

“We need to get you to bed my boy!” Coran sounded, “You’re in no position to walk about like this.”

The royal prince closed his eyes, feeling the lingering traces of his bond stretching further out into space. He felt the trail, barely there, but he could tell faintly where it led to. “They’re still near Arus.” Lance managed to say weakly, “When we enter hyperspace, we need to move-to…” He felt his vision blur, Hunk who was holding him watched in worry.

“Buddy?” He tried to call out, but Lance had been out of it by then.

“Don’t worry my boy! As soon as you wake up, you can help us find the coordinates. We’ll-” Coran’s voice was muffled and soon enough he couldn’t make out the words any longer. His eyes closed, letting darkness overtake him.

 

* * *

 

The silence of darkness was being disturbed with the sounds of breaking rocks, as if the ground itself was slowly beginning to crack. Keith felt his eyelids slowly open, groaning in pain as he lay on the ground. With his weak vision, he managed to make out the huge eclipse within the astral plane break, a huge crack appearing across the planet in the sky.

He felt something under him, hand slowly moving to feel a crack under him as well. Unlike before, Keith felt some of his energy return, willing himself to sit up. It took him a moment to gather himself, but once he managed, he noticed that he was back in space. However, this astral plane he found himself in was different, as if shattering and at the brink of being torn apart.

A massive planet that was hovering above him had a massive crack spread over it, as well as some cracks that he could see in the ground. Some of the stars were shining brightly, while others were slowly beginning to lose their shine. It was faint, and Keith could tell that they were extremely fragile, at the brink of being extinguished.

“Keith.” He heard a voice call out to him, turning to spot a single figure standing in the distance. Their sudden appearance made Keith flinch, hand hovering above his blade.

“Who are you?” He asked warily, watching as the figure began to sob. He felt a pang of longing pass through him as the person began to cry, unsure why he was feeling this way at the sight of those stranger’s tears.

“You _know_  Keith, you _know_.” The person fell onto their knees, tears streaming down their face as their hands clenched into fists. “I can’t do this anymore Keith. I _need_  you to remember me, because if you don’t, I’ll lose you forever.”

The pale boy remained standing in place, moving his hand away from his blade as he stood in place. “L-Lose me?”

“Yes. We’ve been together for so long Keith, so, so _long_.” Blue teary eyes looked up at him, frustration clearly evident within them. “You know, I still remember the first time we met. I’m not sure if you do, but it’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. You were a small child back then, we both were, and we ended up playing every time we would come here.”

The sudden memory of children running around showed, and Keith swore that he could faintly see two children running around in form of stardust. That it until they disappeared, leaving them alone once again.

“We were both innocent back then, and as time went on, our bond grew. You’d forget about me every time, and it _hurt_  so bad that you did. When I realised it for the first time, I cried. You’d forget everything when you woke up, but while in here, your memories of our time together would slowly return. At least we had that.” The person spoke weakly while Keith took a step forward, feeling something pull him towards the unknown figure.

“I didn’t know what it meant back then, but when I realised that you’re my soulmate, I was scared. You… You were a male. I thought it was some sort of a mistake, so when I came back here, I rejected you at the time.”

“You pushed me away.” Keith whispered, a distant memory of the moment coming back to him. He remembered the frightened face he saw, as well as his own grief of seeing this person push him away like that.

“I did, but then I realised something important about myself. It took me some time coming to terms with, but in the end, I accepted it… accepted you and came back. You forgot about me, but then as you remembered again, I apologised for it. I swore to never reject you ever again, and I’ve kept that promise.” The Altean wiped at his eyes, hand leaning against the ground.

“We kept seeing each other but recently you began waking up before you could remember, and it was so incredibly frustrating that it made me do all sorts of things. I went out to search for you on my own, even though we agreed that I should wait for you to make the first move. I let my _want_  blind me. But I couldn’t help it Keith.” Their eyes met once again, their surroundings representing the current state of their bond.

“And now our bond is in danger of being torn apart before we even had a chance to meet. It’s _killing me_. All I ever wanted was to see you, but the way things are, I don’t think it’s something that the universe wants.” The thought made more tears stream down his cheeks, sniffing and wiping at his eyes.

“H-Hey.” Keith reached out, “Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry Keith.” The not-stranger sniffed, rubbing the tears from his eyes, “This is my fault. I lead them straight to you. I should have gone myself. I should have…”

“Hey, I said don’t cry.” Keith fell against the not-stranger, panting heavily as he buried his forehead against the other’s shoulder, “It's all going to be okay.”

“You’re a bad liar Keith.” The other sniffed, bringing his hands around Keith’s shoulders, “You always have been.”

“It’s not a lie.” Keith blinked tiredly, the pain easing just the smallest bit at the contact. The violet eyed boy found himself sinking against the other, relishing in the comfort his touch brought, “You’re...you’re going to come get me...remember?”

“Keith?” Blue eyes flickered over him.

“Yeah...you said...you said you were going to come get me.” Keith blinked, hazy memories dancing across his mind, “So it has to be alright...if it's you…”

“Keith.” The other boy sniffed again, holding him tighter, “Keith, I’ll try.”

“It’s okay Lance.” Keith blinked, a warm buzzing lulling in his mind, making him blink sleepily as he melted against...against...his soulmate. Yeah, this was his soulmate. The pale boy eased more at the realization, “It’s okay, we’re okay.”

“Keith.” Lance sniffed, “I don’t know if it’ll be okay.”

“It’s not over until it is.” Keith blinked, feeling a sweet numbness spread across his body, “I’m going to be fine, because...because...if you can’t come get me then I’ll come to you.”

“Keith, how?” Lance buried his face into inky locks.

“We’ll find a way.” Keith nodded, “You...you always wanted to be the knight in our games...you...you always made me be the princess. It’s my turn though.”

“This isn’t a game Keith.” Lance hugged him tightly against his chest, “I might actually lose you.”

“No.” Keith shook his head, “I refuse. I’m...we’re going to find each other.”

“I don’t think that’s what the universe wants.” Lance sniffed, burying his face into Keith’s hair, “The stars themselves are against us.”

“Damn the stars.” Keith whispered like a promise, “And damn the universe. It can wait its turn, its mine now, and I want to see you. The real you.”

A weak smile spread across Lance’s lips, moving away just a tad bit so that he could look into those beautiful violet eyes that reminded him of the most beautiful auroras he’d ever seen. He moved his hand over to the side of Keith’s cheek, brushing some of his hair away, “I want to see the real you as well. I want to _feel_  what your skin is like and if your eyes are just as beautiful as I’ve seen them all these years. I wonder if the real you is ticklish or if you have this strange habit of clenching your jaw whenever you’re mad, even at the silliest of things.”

The pale boy let himself smile as well, letting his forehead fall against Lance’s own, “You’ll have to wait and see when we finally meet. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I know that I forget every time, but I’ve always wondered how life would be like if I actually remembered you. If only the real me would know, I doubt I would be the same person as I’ve been.”

“I’m scared.” Lance admitted, feeling Keith’s thumb brush away the tears near his left eye, “There’s no telling if you’ll remember me when you wake up, and it’s so frustrating because every time you come back and ask me who I am and… and…” He let his eyes close, taking in a deep breath before opening them again.

“I _wish_  you could remember. I _hope_  that you remember me this time, and that you manage to keep your promise. If you don’t, then we might die.” And that terrified him, the notion that they would both pass away without even managing to meet in real life.

“We’ll meet, I promise. Then we can be together forever.” Keith reached out to hold Lance’s hand, squeezing gently.

It made the other smile but he knew that their bond was facing the danger of being broken, and it was _so very real_  because there were already cracks within. If they don’t meet in real life, then there will be no fixing it, “Are you sure?” Lance asked, “What about all your exes?”

That made Keith flinch, “Y-You know?”

“Of course. Hunk showed me the book. Our real selves have _a lot_  to talk about.” He was mad, but he couldn’t find it in himself to truly show his anger, not when the only thing he wanted was to stay here with Keith.

“We have.” Keith whispered, their eyes meeting again as their eyelids began closing, fully closed when their lips met in a soft kiss full of longing and love. Their arms moved around each other, letting them relish the presence of the other while they still could.

More cracks were beginning to form around them, and as they parted, Keith kept looking into those beautiful blue eyes, longing to see how they really look like in real life. Although when Lance’s look of longing suddenly turned into worry, Keith felt that something was wrong. “Keith, you’re disappearing.”

And it was true. The pale boy looked at his hands, transparent and slowly vanishing. He tried to reach Lance, touch him, but his hand only passed through him as if he were a ghost, Lance trying to touch him as well without success. “Keith! I-I’ll be here. I’ll look for you so please… _Remember_.”

 

* * *

 

Violet eyes cracked open as the pale boy pushed himself off a cold metal floor. His body was sore, and the clothes he’d been taken at some point, replaced by some robe that was scarily similar to what those _Druids_  had worn.

His head swam, his vision blurring horribly as he struggled to push himself into a sitting position. his head throbbed horrifically. He gasped for breath, his head lulled and back hitting the metal wall, trying to regain his bearings. The soulmark on his collarbone throbbed in painful, stabbing, rhythms.

Hadn’t he just been talking to someone? Yes, yes he was sure someone had just been there with him. Someone had been right here with him, holding him, but they were gone now. Who had they been? He couldn’t remember.

It was important to remember.

He blinked his eyes open, his pale fingers twirling the edges of his too long sleeves between them. There was an electrical fire burning through his limbs, heavy and static in ways he didn’t know his body could feel.

Keith forces himself to stand, using the wall to push himself up, leaning against it for support once he was on his feet. He moved, his bare feet padding against the floor as he made his way over towards the glass barrier. He fell against it, eyes searching for where the other person had gone, but they just weren’t there anymore. Instead all he saw was his own hollowed face, dull eyes staring back at him as paint work its way across his face. He hissed, reaching his arm up to whip away the offending paint, but it was too thick and dry to do more than smudge right now.

What were they doing to him?

He shook his head, keeping his eyes out for...for...blue. Blue eyes...and...white hair. That’s right, they had blue eyes and white hair. Like...like…

That prince!

He’d been here. The prince guy had been here. Was he a prisoner too? Or had he come to negotiate his freedom? What was it the witch had said? Something about him killing royalty?

Keith shook his head, trying to puzzle together what had happened. He had just been tortured, so reality probably wasn’t meeting up with what he was really experiencing, but he could have sworn…

His soulmate!

His soulmate had been here too. So the prince and his soulmate were both here. Or were they? Maybe he had just wished his soulmate was here? Either way the prince had _definitely_  been here. And the royal was safe, he was better than this.

Keith needed to find out where the prince had gone.

He beat his fist weakly against the glass, letting out a cry as he tried to force it open. He felt so weak, his whole body weighed down by pain. He reached for…

His knife was gone.

His knife was _gone_. The one thing his dad had made him promise to protect, the one thing he had of his mom, and it was gone. He grit his teeth, forcing the tears down as he beat against the glass again, fist weakly tapping against the glass.

He needed to get out of here. He needed to find the prince. He needed…

His feet gave out and he crashed to his knees, forehead leaning against the glass, fist still pressed firmly against his prison. He gasped for break, sweat building around his forehead. The robes billowed around him, and he felt something...something…

The glass shattered, flying away as he fell forward. A few stray shards cut his cheek, his palms grazing as he tried to catch himself and the fallen bits of glass digging into the skin. He blinked, confused, but rolled over and pushed himself against the wall outside his cell. He forced himself up, blinking as two silver, robotic, soldiers walked passed him without a word.

What had happened?

Something pulled at his mind. A fire. Something called to him, and Keith found himself stumbling as he walked, still supporting himself against the wall. He followed the call, blinking as felt the pull become stronger.

Another set of robotic soldiers passed him.

He watched them go, confused. Then they stopped, turning to face him with weapons raised, their visors blinking red and dangerous, “Stop. Identify yourself.”

Keith blinked, “Keith.”

“Identification 'Keith' not found.” The robots raised their weapons, “Surrender now or face termination.”

Keith was just about to show the robot exactly what he thought of _that_  options when a knife slammed straight through the robot’s head. The second robot turned to shoot, but another blade ripped through the robot before he could even pull the trigger.

Two people dressed in all black and purple stood there, masked and hooded and silent as the night as the reached out and grabbed him. Keith growled, kneeing the intruder in the stomach as he tried to make a break for it. The other hooded person reached for him though, grabbing him and slinging him over their shoulder as they expertly moved. The other one regained their bearings and followed.

“No, no, no.” Keith hissed, digging his nails into their back as he struggled, “You’re not taking me back there. _Fuck you_  if you think I’ll go back there.”

“We’re not the druids Keith. We’re the Blade of Marmora, you’re safe with us.” The alien holding him told, but despite that Keith continued to struggle.

“How do you know my name?” As far as he knew, none of the aliens knew it. He ducked his head when he heard a gunshot pass them, powerless on the alien’s shoulder as they threw their blade at the soldier, managing to take him down.

“It’s a long story.” The person said, running to get their weapon before the other spoke.

“We need to retrieve the second human before we can get out of here.” Their voice was a tad bit deeper, their body larger than of the one that was carrying him.

Second human? Shiro! “You know where Shiro is!? We have to get to him!” He clenched his jaw when more blasters fired at them, turning the corner and running to the other direction.

“We’re going to get him, don’t worry.” The alien assured him, but it still made Keith feel uneasy. They passed many other cells on their way, until they reached the one they were looking for, shattering the glass before it broke to reveal Shiro on the other side. The human was bruised, carrying scars from fighting in the arena.

“Shiro!” Keith called after him, but was unable to get off the alien holding him.

“Keith!” Shiro tried to reach for him, but began falling onto the ground. That is if the second alien didn’t support him, throwing him onto his shoulder.

“We have them both. Heading back to the escape pod.” The two masked aliens made a run for it, turning the corners as blasters fired at them.

“Wait! Not that way!” Keith yelled, trying to gain their attention. “There’s something there! We have to go to it!” He felt the fire in him burn fiercer, calling out to him.

“Keith.” Shiro blinked against the giant holding him, reaching out to calm his brother. Keith was having none of it though, he squirmed horribly, wriggling his way off the alien’s shoulders and falling to the floor with a loud thud.

The two aliens stopped, the smaller one reaching out for him, “Keith. You need to stop this.”

“I can’t leave yet.” Keith crawled away, the fire burning ever warmer as he tried to reach out and answer it, “I need to find it.”

“He was initially captured for quintessence sensitivity.” The taller of the two spoke, “The reports claim he was drawn to the Blue Lion.”

“Keith, buddy.” Shiro blinked tiredly from his spot, “We don’t have time for this, we have to go.”

“I can’t.” Keith hissed, clenching his head, “I can’t leave them here. They want out.”

“The Red Lion.” The smaller of the two concluded, turning towards their companion, “The Red Lion is calling out to him.”

“As did the Blue Lion, but he wasn’t her paladin.” The larger of the two supplied. He hurriedly checked the corridors, “We must hurry. It is only a matter of time before they realize their prize is gone.”

“If we were to free the Red Lion from containment that it would severely weaken them.” The smaller one supplied.

“Our mission is to retrieve Keith, with the champion being an extra reach, we cannot afford to take the risk.”

“I can’t leave without them.” Keith hisses from his place on the floor, a burning hot rage fuelling him, “I won’t.”

The smaller of the two aliens tried to reach for him, interrupted by more blasters being fired their way. They came from the direction they were planning to go, forcing them to derail from their original escape path. The alien reached out, picking up Keith as they threw him against their shoulder.

They ran quickly, managing to dodge some of the blasts using their swords. It was at this moment that Keith noticed the sword the smaller alien was using, vaguely familiar to his own but in a completely different shape. He shook his head, trying to focus on the energy calling out to him instead. “Turn right!”

“We can’t retrieve the lion!” The taller one was set on escaping, “We’ll be compromising the mission!”

“I trust Keith.” The smaller one stated, turning to the direction he pointed to, “In the end we’ll manage to rescue both of the humans and the Red Lion of Voltron as well.”

More blasts were fired their way, this time in bigger number. The two aliens were quick and agile, managing to evade them swiftly. “This way! Ugh! You’ll kill us!” The pale boy yelled, uncomfortable in the alien’s hold.

“Keith! Shut up and trust me!” The alien yelled back, and soon, they managed to make it to large entrance doors that led to _something_ , opening it by jamming the controls with their blades.

As soon as the door hissed open, a large Red Lion appeared, surrounded by a red particle barrier all around it.

“This is it!” Keith managed to get off the alien, jumping down weakly as he made his way to the particle barrier. The fire within him burned fiercer the closer he got, however, it wasn’t a hurtful kind of a flame but rather one that is meant to be used to protect. It reflected Keith’s own desire to escape and protect Shiro from these aliens, reaching up to touch the barrier.

He half expected it to open but it didn’t, and even though he felt a close connection to the lion, nothing was happening. More blasts were fired on them, ducking and hiding to evade them. “Keith! Be careful!” Shiro yelled from where he was, hiding along with the two aliens from the fire.

Keith hissed, moving to hide against the barrier as shoots were fired at him. He stared up at the Lion, hissing as blasts flew passed them, “I’m here. I came for you. Now _help_  me.”

The Lion remained still, the fire burning none as it waited for... something. Keith hissed, glaring heatedly at it, “ _Do something_. We are going to die.” 

The Lion didn’t move at all.

Keith growled. Alright, fine. He got them into this mess for no reason apparently. Well, he got them into this mess than he could damn well get them out of it. He checked past the barrier, moving to struggle to his feet. Right, he was weaponless, there were a small army of robots shooting at him, and everyone else was taking cover and trying to keep from dying. He needed to find a way to get rid of the overwhelming number of enemies quickly and in one go…

There was a door under their feet.

This could end one of two ways. Either they would all die horribly or they wouldn’t.

At least they’d take the damn robots with them.

Keith made a quick, snap decision to speed towards the control panel, ignoring the cries around him and the flare of worry from the Lion as he hit the button to open the doors.

Then he and the others were holding on for dear life as the vacuum of space tried to take them. Right, not his smartest idea, but again they were all going to die anyway. And not everyone was sucked into the vast, empty, void of space yet so all he had to do was close the hatch. If only he could keep his grip and hit the button.

Ah, but it was becoming very hard to breath, and his limbs felt so tired after the Druids.

Someone screamed as he lost his grip.

One of the first things they thought you in the Garrison was to never hold your breath if you ended up in space without a helmet. Once you were outside, you had less than a minute to put your helmet back on before your body suffocated or froze to death. He’d seen edited video simulations of what would happen, but nothing could have prepared him for the real thing. Ice spread through his veins, and he could feel blood vessels shot. The whites in his eyes were probably going red by now. It wouldn’t be long now. He was quickly losing breath as he floated here, helpless and alone.

Then the Lion roared.

And it leapt, jumping after him.

What Keith saw next was a massive mouth about to consume him whole. He could do nothing as the Lion ate him, now finding himself inside it, air rapidly returning to his lungs. He panted harshly, taking in as much air as he could, his body shaking. It was a near death experience, but it was worth it if it finally got the Lion to move. He couldn’t leave it behind, even if it didn’t accept him at first.

“Good kitty.” Keith pat the ground under him, feeling a friendly growl within his mind. Then when the jaw opened again, he spotted the two aliens along with Shiro jump inside, and now he felt the Lion move, soaring through space and surrounded by the sounds of blasters being fired all around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: I've been really tired lately. But, hey, we got some good stuff in this chapter!
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: 2 more chapters and we're done! Sorry for the late update everyone, we've been busy setting up our brand new fic. Hope you'll like it when it comes out.
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	6. Gathered Lions

“Princess! We’ve picked three Galra cruisers on our scanners! One of them is Sendak’s ship!” Coran informed Allura, her brother, and the three humans who were with them as well. A few other Alteans worked around, making sure all of the engines were working.

“Lance?” Allura turned to her brother who sat in his assigned spot. One meant for the Blue Paladin. He tried to focus on his bond with Keith, feeling through their weak bond that his soulmate was there.

“Keith is there. We have to go.” Have gave the clear and Allura proceeded to get them to the coordinates. They were a bit further away from where they originally wormholes to Arus, which meant that Allura had to use another wormhole to get them to those ships.

She concentrated on opening it, a massive wormhole appearing in front of them. Hunk shivered while Pidge and Matt stared in awe, entering the strange space before finding themselves back in space, only this time, they were face to face with three Galra cruisers.

Alarms blasted off, indicating that an enemy was nearby. Soon the cruisers began to fire, and the Alteans worked on returning it. “So Keith is in one of those ships?” Pidge stood up from her own seat, Hunk worriedly looking up as well.

Lance joined them, looking up at the screen and trying to distinguish in which one he was exactly. He felt his bond pull him toward the far left ship, feeling that his soulmate is there. “We have to go. Get to your lions-”

“Wait!” Allura stopped them before they could, “There’s an incoming transmission from one of the cruisers.” She accepted it, a giant image of Sendak appeared.

“Greetings your highnesses.” The Galra commander snorted, “Now that you’re here, you’ll hand over the Lions of Voltron that you have in your custody. If you don’t, then the human and hybrid will pay with their lives.”

Lance felt a wave of ice cold fear wash over him, feeling the bond enough to tell that Keith was okay for now. “If you hurt Keith, I’ll make sure to destroy all of your ships this very instant.”

“You’re all words but no bite dear prince.” Sendak narrowed his eyes, “I’m the one with an upper hand here. You either hand over the Lions, or I will kill your soulmate before your very eyes. And as I kill him, I’ll be ending your life as well.”

“You-”

“We won’t surrender.” Allura interrupted, “Your notorious ways of negotiation are known throughout the galaxy Sendak. If we hand over the Lions, we know that Keith’s safety won’t be guaranteed.”

“Think of it as you will princess. In the end, it’s your choice to make whether the hybrid lives or not. If you won’t surrender the Lions, then we’ll be taking them by force.”

The transmission was suddenly cut off, a blast hitting their particle barrier and making the castleship shake. Hunk yelped in fright while Pidge glared at where Sendak’s face previously was.

“We have no choice but to engage them in battle. Our plan stands.” Allura turned to her three paladins, “We will distract them with the three Lions we have, and then use the chance to have our soldiers infiltrate inside to recover Keith and the human Shiro. Are you all ready for your first battle?”

“I-I don’t think we’re _ready_  ready, but rather-” Hunk mumbled before he was interrupted by Pidge.

“We’re wasting time. Come on, let’s go already!” The girl ran up to the door that would take her to her lion’s hangar, Hunk doing the same, pushing down his fear. Lance was just about to disappear as well, but before he would, he looked over at his sister.

“I’ll be right back.” He didn’t have it in himself to smile, his entire being worried for his soulmate.

“Good luck.” Allura bid him farewell before they all disappeared. It didn’t take long for the Blue, Green, and Yellow Lions to fly out of their hangars, going towards the three Galra cruisers.

“Uhhh… Guys? Just so you know, I’m not that great of a pilot so…” Hunk looked around worriedly, his Lion smashing into one of the fighter jets and managing to destroy it, even though he wasn’t meaning to.

“Neither am I Hunk, but we’ve been flying in the Garrison since we were kids. You can handle a giant cat!” Pidge manoeuvred her Lion, managing to take them down using her mouth canon.

Meanwhile, Lance focused on his bond, feeling that Keith was okay. For now he would be a distraction, but as soon as the infiltration squad got to Keith, he would- He paused, focusing his eyes on a single red dot that was flying nearby the cruiser Keith was suppose to be in.

Zooming in on the object on his screen, he was shocked to find out that it was the Red Lion flying about. His eyes widened, quickly trying to contact anyone who was inside. Unfortunately nobody seemed to be answering, clenching his teeth as he evaded an oncoming blast.

“Ugh! T-This is Lance, the Prince of Altea and the paladin of the Blue Lion. If you’re there, please answer.” He tried reaching them, but so far there was no response. Was the Lion flying out on it’s own?

“Paladins! It seems that the Red Lion suddenly appeared and has joined the battle. We don’t know who it’s Paladin may be, which means that you’ll have to focus your attention on it. The Lions by themselves are very powerful and are a force to be reckoned with.” Allura warned, a small pop-up window of her appearing in all their cockpits.

“We’re the distraction anyway.” Pidge moved her sticks, flying her Lion towards the red one. The Yellow and Blue Lions joined her, evading blasts as they went.

“W-Who! That Lion is quick!” Hunk noted as the Red Lion flew by him quickly, agile and incredibly quick as well.

Lance turned Blue to look at the rouge Lion, however, suddenly a vision appeared before him, eyes glowing in a violet colour.

No air.

Dying.

The Red Lion swallowing him whole.

Two Galra and a wounded human join him.

Weak as he makes his way into the cockpit.

Moving to sit on the pilot’s chair and grabbing the sticks.

The vision vanished and soon Lance found himself smiling. That was no rogue Lion, far from it. His smile only widened when the the image of the Red Lion’s cockpit suddenly appeared on his screen, relief washing over him. 

“This is Keith Kogane and company, inside a giant Red Lion.” Keith, decked out in Druid robes and red paint, spoke. Flanking him were two hooded figures and a heavily wounded human man that Lance was going to assume was the mysterious Shiro he’d heard so much about.

“Keith!” Pidge yelled through the coms, “Shiro!”

“Other guys!” Hunk’s voice followed, “Man, I’m so glad to see you’re all okay. Man, I can’t tell you how worried I was.”

“Pidge? Hunk?” Keith’s eyes widened, “What are you guys doing here? What’s going on?”

“We came here to rescue you, you dolt.” Pidge spoke, “Oh, and we’re paladins of Voltron now.”

“What the hell is Voltron?” Keith looked flabbergasted, throwing a look towards the other people in the Red Lion’s cockpit.

“We’ll explain later.” The hooded woman spoke, “Right now we need to either escape or take down Sendak’s ship.”

“We have four of the five Lions.” Allura popped up on screen, “With them we can unlock the chamber of the Black Lion.”

Sendak, apparently tired of waiting for them, fired. Lance dodged, manoeuvring his Lion to take down one of the attack ships. The rest of the Lions fell into battle as well, now firmly distracted by their attempts to stay alive.

They had the upper hand, with four Lions and Altean troops joining against the single Galra Cruiser. It was a much better situation than Lance could have previously hoped for, especially with the knowledge that Keith was safe and firmly inside the Red Lion, away from the Druids and whatever they had planned to do to him.

“Now that we have Keith here with us, we don’t need the infiltration team Allura. Call them off and focus all of your efforts on taking down those ships.” Lance relied, Allura nodding before going to call off the team. Their priority clear now.

Keith raised a brow, noticing Lance on his comms, “You’re the Altean prince that was after me. Were you… Were you there in the cells?”

“Huh?” Lance’s blue eyes moved onto Keith, looking into his eyes but still not feeling the true sense of what Keith would look like in real life. Sure he saw him through the comms, but it still wasn’t as satisfying. He wanted to see the _real_  Keith in person, to touch and to feel. “We’ll talk about that later, I promise. But for now, we have to take down these ships.”

“The only way we’ll be able to completely destroy the three cruisers is if we form Voltron.” Allura told, “But we don’t have a Paladin for the Black Lion. We may be able to unlock it, but without a Paladin, it won’t be going anywhere.”

“A Paladin?” Keith asked confusingly, wincing when a blast passed by him, almost managing to him him. The Red Lion was agile and it’s controls were sensitive. Keith had to learn this the hard way, speeding past the fighters as he tried to control the Lion.

“Keith! Watch out! You can’t just speed up and throw yourself at the enemies like that!” Pidge yelled at him, managing to take down a couple of fighters by herself, already getting the hand of how her Lion worked.

“Body slam!” Hunk did the same, although unlike Pidge, he was mostly using the Lion’s body to attack, destroying fighter after fighter.

Lance clenched his jaw, willing Blue to follow the Red Lion, shooting at any fighters that might harm it. This was way harder than it looked, and with more and more fighters coming out of the cruisers, it looked like there would be no end to them. “If we can’t form Voltron, then we’ll have to escape!” He turned to look at Allura, “Once we get inside the hangar, prepare to wormhole us away from here.”

“Okay.” The princess nodded, “While I do that you all head back to your hangars. We’re retreating.”

“Where are the hangers?” Shiro called over Keith’s shoulders.

“Just follow me.” Lance called moving to take down more fighters while the Red Lion turned to trail the Blue. The Altean sighed in relief, comforted by the knowledge that the Red Lion was safe right behind him.

The Green Lion was the first to reach the hangars, the Yellow Lion crashing quickly after them. Lance swerved Blue inside, landing in the Lion’s designated spot. He stood from his seat, quickly moving to get a better view outside. The Red Lion sluggishly worked its way inside the hangar, a fighter that was in pursuit crashing into the doors as they slammed shut. Keith must have not been able to go on any longer, because Red crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

“Keith!” Lance yelled, throwing off his helmet as he ran outside his Lion. Pidge and Hunk were already outside their own Lions, heading straight for Red as well.

“Warping now!” Allura’s voice called out, and the entire castle ship jerked. Lance fell to his knees, yanked down by the force of the sudden warp. He held onto the ground with both hands, trying to recenter his gravity once the warp had ended and the jerking had stopped. Blue eyes snatched up, spotting his fellow paladins as they tried to regain their footing.

He didn’t worry about them though. Instead his blue eyes settled on the Red Lion. He pushed himself up, falling into a run until he reached the Lion’s mouth. He banged against the metal, trying desperately to get inside, “Keith? Keith! Are you alright?”

There was a hissing sound, and the mouth opened.

The hooded figures from before walked out. The taller of the two supporting the still wounded Shiro as he leaned against the man’s bulk, the massive arms holding him up and near dragging him out of the Lion. The woman, from what Lance could tell, carried a dizzied Keith in her arms. The boy seemed dazed, well worn from everything he’d been through and the lack of rest that came with it.

Lance hurriedly reached over to touch Keith’s cheek, quick to notice his soulmate’s wounded state. Keith was weak, but despite that, Lance found himself holding in his breath. He finally _touched_  Keith for the very first time and made contact. Sure he was barely conscious, but Lance found himself breathless, more than speechless by the small action.

Keith looked so fragile and wounded, and despite wanting to spend time with his soulmate, Lance knew that Keith’s health was their number one priority. “We need to get him into a healing pod. Follow me.” He led the two Galra to the pods, Pidge and Hunk joining them as they walked.

At some point Matt appeared as well, relieved to see Shiro, looking him over to see if he was alright. Luckily it didn’t take them long to reach the medical bay, Coran already there and readying the pods.

“Quick, the sooner you put them inside, the quicker can we begin the healing process.” The two Galra listened, placing both of them inside before they closed shut. However, before they could fully close, Lance noticed Keith’s eyes slightly open, looking at Lance as their eyes met.

A tanned hand leaned against the glass of the pod before Keith’s eyes closed, falling into sleep. Shiro who was placed beside him was also in the same condition, eyes closed and body resting.

“What are these?” Pidge asked curiously, tapping at the glass, “Some kind of healing devices?”

“You could say that.” Coran confirmed, “They’re able to heal any injury, be it internal or external. Truly a masterpiece in the field of medicine!”

Lance kept looking at his sleeping soulmate, taking in as much of Keith as he could for now. He waited all this time, he could wait just a bit longer. He turned to the two Galra, getting back to business, “Who are you?”

The two looked at one another, nodding before taking off their hoods. Their masks vanished and their faces were revealed, one a female and the larger one a male. “My name is Krolia, and this is Kolivan. We’re members of the Blade of Marmora on a mission to save Keith and ensure his safety.”

Pidge and Hunk were confused at that, questions already forming within their heads. “And why would you want that? Aren’t you Galra? I mean… You are purple.” Hunk noted.

“Wait hold up.” Lance rubbed his chin, “I heard of you somewhere before.”

“Ah! The Blade of Marmora! I thought I recognized those costumes.” Coran walked over with a flourish, “The Blade are a group of underground Glara rebels and spies! Our allies in this war.”

“Oh.” Lance perked up, “I remember now!”

“That still doesn’t answer our question.” Pidge’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “Why go through all that just to rescue Keith? You couldn’t have been doing it for Lance, because we were ready to go in and take Keith back by force.”

“It also doesn’t answer why _you_  were there Kolivan.” Allura stepped forward, “It isn’t often the _leader_  of the Blade goes on non-priority missions.”

That caused the two Blades to pause and share a long look. Krolia looked very defiant even as Kolivan turned to face the princess with his own explanation, “We have reason to believe the witch wanted to turn him into one of her Druids after she broke the bond between Prince Lance and the boy.”

That caused the Alteans to suck breath between their teeth and wince back, Lance moving to clench his hands over the glass that held Keith. Krolia, herself, grimaced a bit at the knowledge.

“Still…” Allura hesitated, “It isn't often you are out in the field.”

“Alright.” Krolia finally spoke, her head lowered and her hands clenched. She composed herself, seemingly taking the time to prepare herself before facing the group, “The other reason we went to save Keith is because he’s my son.”

The group stood in silence, some confused while others speechless. Pidge, Hunk and Matt all shared a look of disbelief amongst themselves, looking Krolia up and down, “I’m sorry but how is that possible? I mean you’re… Galra and Keith is a human. It doesn’t make sense.” Krolia was completely purple while Keith didn’t look anything like her. Sure if she didn’t count her being alien, there could be some similarities but… It just wasn’t possible.

“I know it’s hard to believe but it’s the truth.” Krolia’s voice was firm, “I’ve given birth to Keith while on Earth and then left in order to protect him. If I remained on your planet, the Galra would have arrived much sooner than the Alteans. It’s possible that your race could have been enslaved years ago.”

“Whoa! Wait! Wait! Hold up!” Hunk raised up his hand, completely shook, “So you’re trying to say that we could have been colonised by the Galra? And that Keith is actually part alien?”

The Galra nodded, “Yes.”

“That’s nuts!” Matt massaged his temples, “I’m sorry but this is really hard to believe.”

The Alteans and the Blades all shared a look of understanding between one another, “Humans are a young species.” Allura noted, “It will take them a while to understand that there is life beyond their planet.”

“You’re right.” And Krolia agreed, “But I assure you, I meant everything I said about my relation to Keith.”

“Keith had a hard life.” Lance spoke up, looking at the woman, “He always thought you rejected him, and then when his father passed away, he didn’t have anyone to reply on. This Shiro who is in the second pod is all Keith had. The both of them are really close and Shiro was there for Keith when nobody wasn’t.”

The Altean prince kept his hand on the glass, sighing worriedly, “You’ll both have a lot to talk about once he wakes up.”

“I realize that.” Krolia nodded.

“No.” Lance shook his head, “You really, really, don’t. He spent his _entire life_  being abandoned and rejected. He’s going to need a _really_  good explanation for you walking out on him. And even then he might be angry.”

“Wait. Hold up!” Hunk held up a hand before pointing dramatically at Lance, “How do _you_  know that?”

Lance paused, blinking a bit in confusion before realization set in, “Oh yeah, I forgot you didn’t know. Keith and I meet every night in our dreams.”

Everyone paused at that, even the Blade members. However, it was Pidge that flatly voiced everyone’s thoughts, “What?”

Lance nodded and turned towards the pod, “Not that some people _remember_  we meet up.”

“Ohhhhhhh.” Hunk gave a nod of understanding, “So _that’s_  why you were so mad about the book!”

“You _showed him the book_?” Matt’s head snapped towards him, “Why would you do that? Please tell me you didn’t show him the murder list Keith made to go with it!”

“Wait? When did he add a murder list?” Pidge asked with a raised brow.

“That’s just his list of exes Pidge.” Hunk shrugs, turning towards Matt, “And of course I showed him the list. I had to make sure he was on it. He said he was Keith’s boyfriend. I wasn’t going to lead him to you guys for no reason, especially if it was an ex. Can you imagine if I accidentally walked in with one of the ones that cheated on him?”

“Cheated on my soulmate?” Lance asked, his foot tapping in irritation against the ground, “ _Oh_  we’re so going to have a talk once he wakes up. He should be prepared for double the shock if anything. I’m going to burn that book with my own hands, I don’t care what Keith has to say about it.”

“Damn.” Pidge leaned her hand against Hunk, “Keith _really_  should be prepared then. Still, I don’t want us all to jump on him when he wakes up.”

“How long will he be there for?” Hunk asked, turning to Coran who looked down at the monitor.

“They’ve both sustained heavy injuries but I think about twelve hours should do. After that, they may both be a bit drowsy. I recommend giving them some space before we tell Keith about Krolia and also talk about the murder list.”

“It’s not a murder list.” Hunk had a need to point it out again.

“I see.” Allura turned to the Paladins, “I think it would be best for us to rest while these two take the time they need to recover. We’ll also need to check the status of the Lions and see if they sustained any damages.”

“I could help with that.” Pidge volunteered, “I’ve never seen such advanced technology in my life. We know the possibilities exist back on Earth but we never had the resources to create anything that you have here. It’s truly beautiful.” Her eyes began to sparkle, hands together as she thought of exploring the new technologies available to her.

“And I’ll grab something to eat.” Hunk paused for a second, “You do have food, right?”

“Of course! I’ll make sure to show you the best of the best young lad!” Coran moved to usher both Hunk and Matt into the kitchen, itching to get them to try his cooking, “There’s this speciality we have names food-”

The two royals and the Blades remained, looking at the two pods worriedly. Lance’s eyes observed Keith’s face, resting peacefully as he slept. “Thank you for saving him.” He told the Blades, and he never meant anything more in his entire life.

“And thank you for being there for him.” Krolia placed her hand on his shoulder, their eyes meeting, “I’m not sure I understand the depth of your bond, but I have a feeling that you may know Keith better than anyone here.”

The royal smiled, “Thank you, although this human here is giving me a run for the money.” He pointed at Shiro, the man sleeping peacefully alongside Keith.

“They’ll both recover, but until then, we need to wait. Are you hungry? Would you like to join us for lunch?” Allura asked, hoping they could somehow pass the time in the kitchen with the rest of the Paladins.

“I must return to the base posthaste.” Kolivan rumbled, turning to face Krolia, “I take it you will not be returning with me?”

“No.” Krolia shook her head, eyes trained on the unconscious Keith floating gently in the pod, “I left him once. I’ll never do it again.”

“I will take this as your resignation from the order.” Kolivan nodded, “If you should ever wish to return than you will be welcomed.”

“Thank you, but I doubt I will.” Krolia placed a hand on the glass gently, “Tell Prince Lotor that I personally thank him for the information regarding Keith.”

“Prince Lotor?” Allura demanded, taking a step forward, “He was the one who gave you the information regarding Keith’s capture?”

“Yes.” Kolivan nodded, “He had one of his Generals personally deliver the news to us.”

Allura stood in place, quiet as she processed the new information that was given to her. The Blades, as well as her brother, could see the uncertainty in her, shaken by the news, “I-I see…”

“Allura?” Lance placed a hand on her shoulder, “Do you want to talk?”

“No.” She shook her her, smiling softly as she looked up at Lance’s face, “But I would like to excuse myself for a bit. Kolivan will be leaving, and I’m sure that Krolia would like to remain here with you Lance. I’ll ensure that Kolivan has a pod he can use. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have duties to attend to.” Allura turned, Kolivan following her after bidding his farewell to Krolia.

Only the female Blade and Lance remained at the pods now, both watching as Allura and Kolivan walked away. Krolia was unsure why the mention of Lotor made the princess uncomfortable, turning to the prince for an explanation.

“Lotor and Allura are soulmates.” She didn’t even have to ask before Lance answered, “They’ve had some misunderstandings in the past but they’re trying to fix it. Lotor is making an effort and I have no doubt that this was one of his ways to prove to Allura that he really is sorry for what he did. In a way, he did save my life.” If the druids continued torturing Keith, then he would have died and Keith would have become a druid.

“I see.” Krolia acknowledged his words, seating herself down next to the pods. “I apologise for being privy.”

“It’s no secret.” Lance assured, seating himself down on the other side, “Allura just doesn’t like to talk about it.”

Krolia understood it, not wanting to intrude any further. Twelve hours was a long waiting time, but she was willing to sit here and wait for Keith to wake up. Both her and the prince sat mostly in silence, although from time to time Lance did spark up a conversation.

At some point Alteans came in to give them some refreshments and Lance even went to take off his suit as well. It didn’t take him long to come back though, dressed in his royal clothing as he sat back down next to the pot.

Luckily there were no signs of the Galra anywhere, but they were on their tail. Coran managed to detect the Galra trying to track them down, but more specifically Sendak’s ship which was trying to locate them. The Commander must be desperate, especially since the failure might result in him losing his life.

‘Victory of Death.’ That is the Galra motto.

Eleven hours had passed, nearing the twelve hours Coran said would be needed for the pods to finish healing their occupants. Lance found himself itching in place, looking up at Keith to see if he would detect any signs of him waking up. There weren’t any, not even a single twitch.

Although Lance was excited to finally get to meet Keith for the first time, the long wait got him a bit worried. What if Keith forgot everything they’d done together thus far? Did his memories return? From what Lance could remember during their little interaction prior, Keith didn’t seem to know who he was yet.

It also made Lance wonder if Keith will reject him as his soulmate. Humans aren’t used to other species in the universe, and had never met other lifeforms from outer space before. There was no saying what Keith might or might not do, but the anticipation was too much for poor Lance who’d been sitting here for a little under twelve hours now, finding himself swirled with all different kinds of concerning thoughts.

He needed Keith to wake up. To tell him that he remembers, because if he doesn’t, Lance might find himself to be a crying mess.

The control panel of the pods suddenly began beeping, and both Krolia and Lance perked up when they saw that the pods slowly began to open. They waited, holding in their breaths as Keith and Shiro fell out, falling into Krolia’s and Lance’s arms.

The prince held onto Keith gently, the pale boy grumbling and mumbling something under his breath, “Hmmm… W-Where am I?” He looked up, eyes meeting Lance’s own, “Who are you?”

Lance smiled, holding onto Keith and noting the tiredness in his violet orbs, “My name is Lance, and you’re right here in my arms.” Finally, after all this time, he can hold the real Keith. It was so incredibly fulfilling, but at the same time fears of rejection lingered at the back of his mind, hopeful that his soulmate would remember him.

Violet eyes blinked, dazed and confused for a moment. He reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of something. There was an itch in his head, an aching familiarity, “Right...right...your name is Lance.”

Lance sucked in a breath, a spark of hope igniting in his chest, “Y-Yeah! That’s me! I’m Lance!”

“Right, your name is Lance.” Keith dropped his hand, blinking open his eyes as he turned to stare into the hopeful Blue, “You...you were there...in the prison...where did you go?”

The royal frowned a bit, the hope dying down a bit as Keith continued to try and put things together. It was normal to feel disoriented, but Lance knew that Keith had more than one reason why he always forgot. Between their weak bond and the distance between them…

Lance feels a stab of guilt. He knows why the bond was so weak, those silent years in his youth when he had realized Keith, a man, was his soulmate and he’d run. A rejection that lasted a long time, with Lance firmly slamming the connection between them off. It wasn’t fully why Keith forgot, not at all, but it hadn’t helped him remember at all. Now the weakness of their bond could prove fatal to both Lance /and/ Keith’s fragile memories, “Keith, what are you talking about?”

“You were there.” Keith blinked, “In the cells with me. You were...Lance...you were there. You’re...that Prince…”

Keith blinked, confused, shaking his head, “Why were you there? You’re a...a prince.”

Lance licked his lip, sharing a look with Krolia, who was holding up an equally dazed Shiro who hadn’t quite processed where he was yet. She gave him a sympathetic look, but seemed content with making sure Shiro was sat on to the floor gently.

The royal gulped, turning back towards his soulmate, “Keith...do you remember where you saw me? It wasn’t in the cells.”

Keith blinked, trying to piece it together, “You...you’re Lance...and a prince...and...and...you were there...but you weren’t...and…”

“And what?” Lance asked desperately, hand hands moving to cup Keith’s cheeks, “Keith...do you remember me? Do you _really_  remember me?”

Keith blinked up at the royal, “I...we...it was my turn...to find you?”

“Yes.” Maybe if he helped Keith remember, he would be able to recall on his memories. “Anything else? Does anything come to mind?”

The pale boy frowned, trying to understand what the Altean prince meant. He couldn’t remember anything, even if he tried parting his lips to talk and give an answer, he didn’t really know what to say. Luckily for him, the door of the room slid open, revealing Pidge, Hunk and Matt on the other side, along with a woman Keith didn’t recognise.

“Keith!” Pidge yelled, the three humans running up to him before embracing him tightly in their hugs. Lance watched with a sense of regret and sadness as his soulmate was embraced, smiling now that he was reunited with his friends.

“We’re so glad you’re okay man!” Hunk cried, pulling them all into a giant bear hug, “Both you and Shiro are fine!”

“You don’t look so good.” Matt approached his soulmate, taking over for Krolia who handed him over to Matt. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks Matt.” Shiro sighed, massaging his temple, “I wasn’t aware.”

“I can’t believe you’re both okay. Sure you’re dazed but I don’t see any injuries. This healing pod is fascinating.” Pidge’s eyes sparkled, walking around the pod to examine it, admiring the beauty of the technology.

“We should get you both some new clothing.” Allura spoke, earning their attention, “Also, I hope you’re hungry. You’ll need the energy for what we’re about to do next.”

Hunk quirked a brow, “And what’s that?”

“Training.” Allura placed her hands on her hips, “As the new Paladins of Voltron, we’ll need to prepare you for the battles that lay ahead.”

All the humans stared at her, and then all the humans began to speak at once, some angry, some confused, all protesting.

“We can’t stay here! Our mom would _kill_  us.” Matt hissed, pulling his hair, “She doesn’t even know where we are right now!”

“Yeah! I can’t leave my family for that long! What if my mom thinks I’m dead?” Hunk panicked as well, looking on the verge of hyperventilating, “I can’t fight a space war! I’m untrained!”

“What’s a Paladin?” Keith asked, looking between the Alteans and the...purple lady.

“If the issue of your families is the only thing holding you back then we can easily contact them.” Allura spoke up diplomatically, “But we need the Paladins in order to pilot the Lions to form Voltron. This war has already gone on for far too long, we _need_  Voltron’s power to finally stop the Galra Empire.”

Silence fell over the room.

Shiro was the one who turned towards his group now, still leaning heavily against Matt, “We’ve seen what the Galra Empire can do. We know what they’re capable of. This is second time they’ve taken me captive, and trust me when I say that we don’t want them colonizing any more planets.”

“Wait…” Pidge’s voice got serious as she turned towards Shiro, “These are the guys that took you and Matt? That _still_  have dad?”

“Pidge…” Matt started, but Pidge wasn’t having any of it.

“Then I’m staying.” Pidge folded her arms decisively, “We _have_  to get dad back.”

Keith blinked, pushing himself to stand up, “Wait, I still don’t know what a Paladin is.”

“The Lion you piloted is a sentient being.” Lance explained, “And they’re picky about who pilots them. It’ll be _very_  difficult to find another Paladin if one of you leave.”

“And we have yet to find the Paladin for the Black Lion. Once we have all five of the Paladins gathered, you’ll be able to form Voltron and help enslaved planets free themselves of the Galra occupation.” Allura added.

“Wait, we need a fifth pilot for this Black Lion?” Pidge asked while the princess nodded.

“Yes, and I believe that we may have already found him.” She turned to Shiro, eyes narrowed as she looked at him. “Your quintessence and strong will resemble that of the Black Lion. I believe that you will be able to pilot it-”

Suddenly the alarms began blasting, startling everyone in the room.

“W-What’s happening? Is it an attack?” A jumpy Hunk asked with a shaky voice, looking around himself in worry.

The door of the room hissed open, a panicked Coran running inside, “Princess! Prince! We have an emergency!”

“What is it Coran?” Allura turned to face him, the olde Altean panting as he tried to gather himself.

“It’s Sendak! He’s attacking planet Earth as we speak!” Upon Coran’s words, everyone paled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: Of course a second hurricane is coming for me. Dang it global warming. Oh well, we're close to the end guys! Fluff mom loves you!
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: One more chapter to go! Thank you all for such great positive comments we've been receiving! It makes my days and warms my heart <3
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


	7. Connected As One

Apparently there was no time for rest or recovery. The Altean forces were already fighting back against the Galra invaders. Keith and Shiro weren’t even fully recovered, but the younger of the brothers found himself back in the Red Lion, now donning a set of red armour, and flying out to fight the people that had, from his perspective, only _just_  tortured him.

Still, he grit his teeth and forced himself to stop shaking long enough to drive out. There were more important things right now than his head, and if these Lions were as powerful as the princess claimed than they could save a lot of lives, both Altean and Human. So he was going to suck this up and do this.

The four Lions they had stuck close to one another at first, each of the pilots still getting used to them and unsure what to do, but they had no choice but to separate once the Galra fighters spotted them and began their assault. Keith found himself drowning in battle now, taking down fighter after fighter, unable to keep full track of where everyone was. There were too many Altean ships to dodge and three other Lions to try and keep track of, so one moment he’d know where Hunk was but not Pidge, and the next he and Pidge would be taking down a fighter together and she would be gone.

It was disorienting.

At some point he found out that Red had fire power, which made taking down the Galra much easier on him, but it was hard with the sheer number of fighters.

“Paladins!” Allura appeared on all of their screens, “There are four Galra cruisers currently orbiting the Earth and many more fighter jets that are set on destroying cities with the highest populations. You need to focus all of your efforts on Sendak’s main cruiser! If his ship is damaged, there is a chance that they may retreat.”

“I doubt they would do that Allura.” Lance spoke, taking out a couple of fighters on his side, “ Sendak would never retreat, not when he has an opportunity like this to deal us some great damage.”

“U-Uhhh! G-Guys! I have fighters on my tail!” Hunk yelled in panic, trying to shake them off before a blast managed to hit and destroy all of the fighters behind him. He paused to look, spotting the Green Lion flying by his side. “You’re my saviour Pidge.”

The said girl manoeuvred her lion, now gaining a few fighters jets of her own that began to follow her, “Ugh! They’re everywhere! There’s no way we’ll be able to beat all of them on our ow- Ah!” She grumbled when a blast managed to hit her, looking out of her cockpit to see some of the Garrison planes flying about.

“The Garrison? They joined the battle.” Pidge noted, but then managed to evade one of their shots, “And they don’t know that we’re trying to defend them.”

“Our own are shooting at us!” Hunk yelled, trying not to hit the Garrison planes while also trying to take down the Galra fighters.

“Hold on! I’ll try contacting the Garrison higher-ups!” Allura spoke, going to work on contacting the humans.

Keith grumbled under his breath, annoyed that the Garrison was shooting at them. That’s the reason he never liked them, and probably never will. He flew, shaking off the Garrison fighters while shooting on the Galra. However, as he did, the Galra managed to corner him, shooting on all sides.

Keith tried to escape despite the glowing hooks holding his lion down. And just as he was about to be hit, a blast came and saved him. The fighters blew up, scattered into millions of pieces as a Black Lion flew nearby.

“Keith! Are you alright?” Shiro appeared in one of the pop-up windows of Keith’s screen, making him smile.

“ _Shiro!"_  Keith breathed, “You got a Lion too, huh?”

“Allura wasn’t wrong about the Black Lion taking a shine to me.” Shrio shrugged, manoeuvring past some Garrison ships and taking down fighters, “Right, form up team.”

“How?” Lance’s face popped up on screen, “We’re a bit overrun at the moment.”

“Not to mention we don’t know how to make Voltron.” Hunk’s own voice cut through, “Like, are we supposed to run into each other or…?”

“Don’t you dare Hunk.” Keith hissed, “I don’t want a repeat of the hoverbike incident! Especially now!”

“Then how are we supposed to do this?” Pidge huffed through the comms.

“The old man always said that we were supposed to be in sync and feel the connection between us.” Lance informed, drawing on the experience of his father.

“Okay, how?” Hunk asked, “Do we like...fly in formation or…?”

Keith’s Lion was knocked back as he tried to focus on the conversation, keeping his head straight, not hitting his allies, and avoiding fire from Galra and Garrison. He was knocked straight into a Galra cruiser, which immediately jerked from the contact of his Lion being full on thrown into it. On the bright side the lasers they were readying to fire off were thrown very off course and hit another cruiser.

On the not so bright side the cruiser now had their sights firmly set on Keith and were reading to fire at him.

The red paladin stared at the canon with wide eyes, too late to try and manoeuvre and evade it. “Keith!” Lance noticed it as well, and luckily he was nearby, pulling on his sticks to push the Red Lion out of the way of the blast, meaning to escape as well but unable to before the blast hit him.

“Ahhhh!” The Altean prince screamed as the blast hit him, then as it began to disappear, the Blue Lion was left motionless in the wake of where the blast once was. Electrical sparks surrounding it as it floated in space.

Keith’s violet eyes looked at the Blue Lion, worry and fear coursing through him. “Lance!” He flew Red closer, noticing as the cruiser was readying it’s canon for another canon. He clenched his teeth, pushing Red into Blue to move him out of the way.

“Keith! Lance! We got you covered!” Pidge flew closer, she, Hunk and Shiro firing their blasts onto the canon, managing to damage it enough so that it couldn’t fire at them anymore. Keith pushed the Blue Lion further, Allura appearing on his screen.

“Keith! You’ll have to push him into the hangar of the castleship! Please hurry! Ugh!” She grabbed onto the stand before her, holding herself as some blasters hit the particle barrier, managing to make the ship shake.

The Red Paladin didn’t need to be told twice, he pushed the Red Lion forward, grabbing the Blue Lion and tugging back towards the ship as quickly as he could. Hunk and Pidge covered him while Shiro took on the cruiser.

The particle barrier let up just enough for him to slip through with the Blue Lion. He rushed out of Red’s cockpit. Allura had already made her way down by the time he’d made it out, but Keith found his way inside Blue. He rushed over towards the downed paladin, throwing off Lance’s helmet and flinging it on the floor. He fumbled, bringing his fingers towards Lance’s neck, feeling for a pulse.

He found one, pounding weakly against Lance’s jugular. It was so faint that Keith was scared it would fade soon.

Allura burst into the cockpit, “Is he alright?”

“He’s alive, but its close.” Keith moved, “We have to do something. Fast.”

Allura didn’t even hesitate, she pushed him out of the way and reached over towards her brother. She placed a hand against his forehead, a white light engulfing it as she closed her eyes, there was a tense silence and a large glow, but it died down soon.

Lance groaned, eye blinking open, “Allura?”

“Lance!” Allura engulfed him in a hug.

The royal blinked weakly, chin resting against Allura’s shoulder as confused noises, “What happened?”

“You almost died.” Allura pulled away, hands coming to rest on her brother’s shoulders, “Your heart may have even stopped for a moment. I had to reach and spark your quintessence before it faded.”

“Near death experience.” Lance made a noise, “That’s new.”

Keith stood up, “Are you okay? Any pain?”

“Keith, you’re okay.” Lance reached out for him.

“ _I’m_  okay? You almost died!” Keith hissed.

The prince held onto Keith’s hand tightly, unwilling to let go, “D-Did you sense that?”

“Sense what?” He tried to understand what the other wanted, but found it hard to do, especially when in heat of the battle.

Lance clenched his teeth, clearly trying to hold in his frustration. It as confusing, but they didn’t have time for this, not right now. He let go of Keith’s hand, looking up at him with sharp blue eyes, “Just go! We have to rejoin the battle.” 

The red paladin nodded, unsure but still running out of the lion to go back into his own. As soon as he was inside, he took off, joining the rest of his friends as they fought. Allura, meanwhile, placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder, feeling his wavering emotions, “He’ll remember. I’m sure he will.”

“I don’t know.” Lance shook his head, “Maybe we just aren’t meant to be.”

The princess remained quiet, thinking back of her own bond. She gathered herself, her hand firm on Lance’s shoulder, “You need to get back to the battle. They can’t form Voltron without you.”

“Right.” The prince reached out for his helmet, putting it back on as Allura made her way out. As soon as she was outside, the blue lion took off, joining the other again. He felt so incredibly frustrated but at the same time he knew he had to keep his head cool.

He took in a deep breath, deciding to ignore their bond in favour of the battle. He’ll deal with all of that later, right now, they had to defend planet Earth.

“G-Guys!? Any new leads on how we can form this Voltron?” Hunk asked worriedly, evading a shot from one of the cruisers. All of them were struggling, and many of the Garrison ships were taking heavy damage. Luckily one of the Alteans managed to contact them so from now on, the Garrison wasn’t attacking them anymore.

“Look!” Shiro pointed to Earth, one of the Galra blasters aiming to shoot at their home town. The little town in the desert had no chance of surviving, and as the canon was loaded, all of the paladins began attacking it.

Hunk bodily slammed the Yellow Lion against the head of the cannon, knocking it off target. Pidge grabbed the head of the cannon between Green’s teeth and Keith did the same. Together, the two friends ripped the cannon off and tossed it into one to the other cruisers.

“Alright team. It's now or never. Form Voltron!” Shiro called out over the coms. The five paladins nodded, moving into formation. There was a pull between them, some invisible link that bound them together. It wasn’t like a soulbond, but it connected them somehow, and then they were forming Voltron. Fully formed, the five paladins moved in sync, piloting Voltron through the battlefield. Keith found himself forming a sword, the weapon swinging against the Galra cruiser.

The sword sliced through the cruiser easily, like a knife through butter. The metal of the cruiser gave way, sparks and fire left behind them as the ship gave into its own damage and exploded. The paladins didn’t stop though, didn’t have time to contemplate what they’d done. The five of them moved, going for the next cruiser while Altean ships kept Galra fighters off their trail.

This cruiser was less damaged than the other, but they were determined. The five of them sliced through the ship over and over until the fires spread and red flashes of alarms sounded through their ears. Sparks flew as the sped outside of the cruiser, lasers following them even as they cut their way out of the metal prison and left it behind to destroy itself.

Now there was only one cruiser left.

Sendak’s face suddenly appeared on their screens, the Galra commander more than furious now that most of his forces were taken down. He growled lowly, eyes narrowed dangerously in a hateful glare, “You may have defeated me today, but in the end, I’ll be the one to emerge victorious. Emperor Zarkon will get his hands on the Lions of Voltron and-Ugh!” The commander grumbled when a large blast sounded, Voltron attacking his cruiser without any mercy.

“Y-You filthy Alteans! The Galra will eliminate your infectious race out of this universe forever! Load the canon!” He turned to his men, grumbling as more and more damage was done to his ship. Communication between him and the Alteans was lost, the cruiser sliced in half by Voltron and it’s blazing sword.

“Good job team.” Shiro spoke through their comms, relieved that Earth would be safe now, “We’ll head back to the hangars now, disband!” And Voltron divided again, all of the lions looking out at the damages the battlefield brought.

“This is messed up.” Pidge found the sight hard to bear.

“Our hometown was almost annihilated.” Hunk lowered his head, the truth donning on him.

“That’s what war is.” Lance held his controls lightly, eyes roaming around as well, “But if we didn’t defend your planet, then it would have been enslaved by the Galra right now. We did the right thing.”

“Of course we did!” Pidge agreed, “It’s just that we never really experienced anything like this. It’s all new to us.”

“Pidge is right. We should head back to the castleship. We’ve had enough for today.” Shiro and the rest made their way back to the ship, it’s particle barrier lowering to allow them entrance.

Hunk fidgeted in his seat, uneasy thoughts lingering his mind, “Can we at least go to our families and say our goodbyes?”

“Of course.” Lance nodded, “We’ll give you all the time you need.”

The group made appreciative noises, dispersing as Altean servant came to lead them towards places where they would call their families. Keith didn’t go with them, his only family already standing right next to him. There was no one else he was interested in saying goodbye to. Instead Keith turned towards the Blue Paladin, moving to check on him, “Hey, are you alright? You had a pretty close call back there.”

Blue eyes flickered over the pale boy, studying him slowly. The royal’s lips quirked, a smile settling over his lips, “I’m hurting, but I’m fine.”

“Maybe you should lay down.” Keith frowned, “You almost died and all, you should get some rest.”

“That’s a good idea Keith.” Shiro walked up, patting both of their shoulders, “We should all get some rest. You and I only just got out of those pods when we went out into the field. We should rest up and recover.”

Lance frowned, turning to face them, “He’s right. We should all get some sleep. I could show you where some spare rooms are.”

“You should get to your own bed.” Keith frowned, “You almost _died_  today. You don’t need to show us around.”

“You were horrifically tortured and you’re running around.” Lance frowned, crossing his arms, “Let me help you.”

“I was healed, you need rest now.”

“I was healed too.”

“You _both_  need sleep.” Shiro rubbed his eyes, “I don’t care if you share a bed, get some sleep, both of you.”

The boys both turned to look at the man, Lance looking particularly put out, “I’m royalty you know.”

“I’m not from a monarchy.” Shiro supplied, moving to walk out of the room, “Get some rest you two.”

Keith sighed, watching his brother go before turning back towards the prince, “Do you need help getting to your room? Or are you okay to get there yourself. Either way I’m going to listen to Shiro and hit the hay.”

Lance blinked in confusion, looking at Shiro and then Keith, puzzled as to what the older man actually meant. “Is it an Earth custom to share a bed with strangers? If that’s the case then I have some complains.” Oh ho… What if his soulmate shared a bed with someone before? He had a feeling he probably had but it still made him frustrated.

“Not with strangers.” Keith turned to him, “It’s fine to sleep with friends.” He extended his hand, waiting for Lance to take his hand, “I don’t think we properly introduced ourselves. I’m Keith Kogane, and for some reason, you were looking for me. Can you tell me why?”

Blue eyes noted the hand, then moved to look at Keith’s face. He couldn’t tell him, not unless he remembers by himself. He composed himself, taking the human’s hand, “My name is Lance of Altea, and the reason I was looking for you isn’t important. I can tell you after you get some sleep.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed at that, “Why can’t you tell me now?”

“Because I’m about to lead you to your bed.” Lance pulled on his hand, dragging him along, “Follow me and don’t complain, otherwise I won’t tell you anything.”

“Doesn’t mean your servants won’t tell me.” Keith tried, the Altean letting go of his hand as they walked.

“They won’t tell you, but nice try anyway.” Lance led the human to their sleeping chambers, opening one of the rooms he knew was free. Keith looked at it, finding that the room was simple, with a single bed and a bathroom door that connected to it. Nothing extravagant there. “Do you need anything before I go?” Lance asked as Keith seated himself on the bed.

“I should be fine, thanks.” He let his body relax, closing his eyes on the bed.

“Okay.” Lance lingered around for a while before going, stopping at the door before he would leave, “Thanks… For saving me.” He smiled as the door closed shut, giving Keith the privacy he needed.

Keith shifted, deflating a bit and letting the exhaustion wash over him now that he was alone. He studied his new room with a critical eye. It was nice, about as big as the room he and Pidge shared back home. It was clean, the bed was neatly made, so there was no reason to worry. It was a nice change from the mess Pidge made of their room

The pale boy made his way over to the bed, slumping on it as he worked off the armor the Alteans had given him. He gently placed the bits of armor onto the floor, resolved to put them somewhere safer later, once he was rested up and ready to actually face the world.

He stripped down to the black under armor, stopping once he realized that he had no other clothes. He’d have to ask for more later, but for now he wanted to give into his exhaustion.

The pale boy crawled under the blanket on the bed, letting his body sink into the mattress, his raven head falling against the pillow. The lights dimmed all on their own, darkening the room into a comfortable level. Keith didn’t wonder how the lights knew to dim, he just closed his eyes and let his mind drift off…

An indigo sky surrounded him, millions of stars dotting the sky. A black planet floated all too close, blocking out a light behind it. Violet eyes flickered over the strange world he found himself in, landing on his reflection in the pool below his feet.

Keith blinked, taking a step forward, only to find his feet didn’t sink into the pool when he stepped. He turned his face upward, studying the sky, and the stars that shown against it.

“What kind of crazy dream is this?” Keith wondered, stepping forward again. He looked around, not sure where to go from here.

“It is crazy when you think about it.” He paused when he heard someone’s voice, jumping up and turning to face the person, only to see that it was Lance, sitting on the ground and looking up at the stars, “If it weren’t for this space we have, we wouldn’t have known each other for so long. We’d have none of the memories we have right now, or at least the ones I have.”

Keith quirked a brow, unsure what was happening at the moment, “What’re you talking about? And where are we?” Was this Lance’s doing? He wouldn’t be surprised with the Altean technology he has. A hallucination? Or a virtual space?

The prince sighed, lowering his head as he pushed himself further down, laying flat against the ground, “It doesn’t matter. This time I decided to wait for you to remember. I really can’t handle you asking every single time anymore, so the best this I can do is wait for your memories to come back to you.” He paused, worrying thoughts washing over him. “And then when you wake up, you’ll forget about me again.”

No matter how close they were now, Lance felt as if they’ve never been further apart, “We’re friends now, and maybe we’ll stay like that forever. I was hoping for something more but I think that I should be happy with what I have. I can’t make you remember by force, otherwise it would ruin everything and you’ll just keep forgetting. All I can do right now is hope for the best.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Keith took a step closer, now standing beside the other, looking at Lance’s face as the prince looked up at the sky, “You still didn’t tell me where we are, or why we’re here.”

“I decided.” Blue eyes moved to look at Keith, so very hopeful but at the same time devastated, “You said you would come for me. I’m going to wait for you now.”

Keith found himself confused again, “What?” This didn’t make any sense, “What do you mean?”

A small smile appeared on Lance’s face, closing his eyes to relax against the ground. “Just as I said, I’m waiting for you. However long it takes…”

Keith frowned, a tingling sensation entering his head. He clenched his head, the nagging in his head lowering as he moved to sit beside the prince, “But...that doesn’t makes sense though. Didn’t I...didn’t I already do that...with the prison?”

Lance’s earrings jiggled as he turned to give the pale boy a sad smile, “No Keith, you didn't. You tried, I can tell, because you remembered a bit, but you haven’t come to me yet.”

The pale boy reached out to touch the prince’s shoulder, “Are you alright?”

The tanned boy leaned into the touch, “Not really.”

“Lance.” Keith leaned forward, something in his head or chest buzzing, “What can I do to help?”

“You’re already doing all you can.” Lance touched Keith’s hand, moving it from his shoulder, “I can tell, you’re trying hard, but...it's not enough Keith. I want...I want…”

The royal sniffed, curling into himself to hide his shame, “What if you’re never going to remember? What if you’re going to forget over and over again. I thought once we met that you would remember, but you still forgot.”

“Lance.” Keith reached forward, rubbing circles into the royal’s back, “Don’t cry. You know I can’t stand it when you cry.”

“And now you’re going to start remembering.” Lance straightened out, rubbing his eyes as he turned to face Keith, “This happens every time Keith. After a while you start to remember, and then when you wake up you forget me all over again.”

“That’s right, we’ve done this before.” Keith realized.

“Almost every night for years.” Lance nodded, smiling sadly. He reached out, brushing his fingers through Keith’s hair, “How much do you remember right now Keith?”

“We’ve known each other forever.” Keith realized, “Ever since we were small.”

“Yeah.” Lance nodded, “Except the awkward teen years.”

“You left.” Keith noded, “You left for a long time.”

Lance sniffed again, “And I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“You came back though.” Keith reminded, poking the boy gently, “You came back, and that’s what’s important.”

“What does it matter if you don’t remember me?” Lance shook his head, his hands moving to cup Keith’s cheeks.

“We’ve never done this so close before.” Keith reasoned, “I might. You said yourself, I’m starting to remember more and more. And it's true, I really am starting to remember more.”

Lance’s lips twitched, “I’ll wait for you.”

“You won’t _have to_.” Keith shook his head, “If I love you here than I can love you out there too, even if I never remember.”

Lance perked up at that, blue eyes trying to understand what Keith meant fully, “A-Are you trying to say that you’ll fall in love with me even if you don’t remember?” It sounded strange at first, but Lance could tell where Keith was coming from.

“I know I will.” Keith leaned closer, moving some of Lance’s hair away from his face, “I didn’t fall for you because we’re soulmates. I won’t deny that it doesn’t have anything to do with it, but we are meant to be together, so there’s that as well.”

The prince snorted, “You’re an idiot.”

Keith gave him a ‘look’ at that, “I’m not, just trying to tell you the truth. And even when we interact in the real world as Paladins of Voltron, we’ll always meet back here.”

And that was the thing. Keith’s plan sounded all nice but Lance still _wanted_  him to remember. He wanted Keith to know about all those times they met, as well as the time when they first met. It was a memory he’s going to cherish, but Keith wouldn’t never cherish it in the same way. He’d only remember it when he came back to the astral plane.

“I still want you to remember.” Lance frowned, leaning into the touch, “It would be torture if I knew and you didn’t. I can’t function like that. I’ve been waiting for so long already.”

And Keith didn’t want to expose Lance to that either, but he didn’t have a choice, “But what if I forget?”

The prince shook his head, “I honestly don’t know. I just can’t handle it anymore is all I know.” He leaned his hand against Keith’s shoulder, gently pushing him down so that they were laying on the ground, looking up at the stars.

Lance took the chance to sneak his hand around Keith’s upper body, letting himself relax against the other’s chest, “At least let me have this.”

Keith moved his hand, placing it around Lance’s waist as the Altean relaxed. The stars above were beautiful, but now as they lay together like this, they seemed to shine even more. The space around then wasn’t scary anymore, but rather inviting.

“Lance…” Keith whispered, his eyes on the stars, hand rubbing circles into Lance’s upper back, “I can’t promise I’ll remember, but if that’s what you want...then I’ll fight to remember. I’ll fight every day.”

“Keith…” Lance squeezed him, and maybe the touch wasn’t real, but it almost felt real.

“I’m starting to remember Lance.” Keith sig his fingers into the royal’s back, “Maybe not all at once, but I remember more and more. And I’ll fight to remember even more. I promised I’d come to you, and I mean it.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Lance warned.

“I plan to keep this one.” Keith swore, pulling back to look Lance in the eyes, “When I wake up, I’m going to look for you, and I’m going to remember we  were here.”

“You’re making promises again.”  Lance buried his face against Keith’s chest, “Big ones that I’m scared you can’t keep.”

“I love you.” Keith promised, “I love you, and I’m going to find you when I wake up.”

Lance hummed at that, not so sure if he believed that, “I love you too, but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to keep it. If you can’t keep it, then don’t make the promise.”

“But I _will_  keep it. If I promised it, then I definitely will.” Keith assured, letting their legs intertwine and get tangled against one another. Lance was still wary, torn by the hesitancy that was telling him not to believe Keith’s words, and the fact that he so desperately wanted it to happen.

“If you don’t keep your promise, I’ll be furious. I’ll rub it in your face and make you swear on your life never to make promises ever again. That’s how serious I am.” The prince had a weak heart, and any more of this might really crack him. It was already hard enough to walk by Keith without being able to tell him the truth or that they knew each other.

“It’s a good thing you don’t have to be then.” Keith let himself relax, slowly closing his eyes, “I’ll keep my promise, just you wait and see.” And without them knowing, the both of them were enveloped by stardust that flew around, two lions, blue and red, standing a distance away and watching them quietly.

All Keith could see was darkness, that is until he began to open his eyes, meeting a blank white wall of the castleship where he fell asleep.

The youth sat up, rubbing a violet eyes as he shifted. The room was still dim, but he got up anyway. He didn’t have shoes, or clothes other than his under armor, but he walked past the armor still on the floor. His feet padded against the strange marble-metal flooring, leaving a faintest noise as he exited hs room.

The hallway was as dim as his room, making the boy wonder just how long he’d been asleep. He shook his head, ridding himself of the thought as he made his way down the dark hall. No one else was about, except the occasional machine that seemed to clean the floors and such. He silently made his way past the rooms, careful not to wake up the sleeping inhabitants inside.

He followed a tug, a small instinct that lead him to the place he knew he wanted to go. Two guards stood outside the door, their expressions stern as they watched him. Keith spared them a quick look, unsure of himself, before he swallowed the uncertainty and walked up to the door. The guards didn’t try to stop him as he placed a gentle hand on the door and pushed it open softly.

The room inside was much more extravagant than the one Keith had just been in. It had a gigantic bed, and  what looked vaguely like silken drapes. The furniture was all fancy as well, fit for a prince. The various decorative swords and paintings on the wall certainly looked expensive.

In the middle of the bed was Lance, propped up against what must have been a million pillows, his lower half hidden under the blankets, blue eyes trained on the door. The prince sucked in a breath as Keith entered, his fingers twisting into the material of his pajamas, “You came.”

The ravenette didn’t say anything, he just slipped inside the room, letting the door close behind him. He patterned over towards the bed, crawling onto it and settling himself beside Lance. The royal watched him, his breath hitched until Keith fell limp under the blankets next to him.

“Keith?” Lance hesitated, “Do you remember anything?”

Keith felt a tug on his heart, a warm blooming that beat strongly against his chest. It was something warm and all consuming, enough to override the nagging in his head. He didn’t exactly remember everything, but there was an itching that made him think he could, “I promised I’d come to you.”

“Th-That’s right.” Lance touched his shoulder, “What else?”

Keith peeked open a violet eye, trying to remember, but it was fuzzy. Nothing was clear in his head, even when he thought it should be. Still, he fought to remember. He started with the warm tugging on his chest, the light way his heart fluttered looking at those blue eyes, “I...I think I...no...no...I love you.”

Lance’s breath hitched at that, those words making him freeze up and squeezing Keith’s shoulder. His eyes were wide, hope spreading through him as he turned to face Keith fully. “Y-You do?”

Keith remained quiet, trying to clear his mess of a head. It was so hard, and he didn’t know why there was a mess in the first place, but there was. “I do.” But despite that, he was sure of this one thing. He felt it deep within, as well as the force that led him to Lance in the first place.

The prince trailed his hand down, taking both of Keith’s hands within his own, unsure if he should say anything. That’s why he decided to listen instead, being there for Keith as he so desperately tried to remember, and Lance could see it.

“I don’t know why I came here, but I know that it’s important for me to be with you right now. I know you were there when I was in the prison cell, but at the same time you weren’t. It’s as if you were a mirage, with me but at the same time not physically there.” He tried to make sense of it, placing the pieces he had together.

Lance found himself holding in his breath, holding onto Keith’s hands while listening, “You were looking for me back on Earth, and I don’t know why, but it must have been something important if you got the whole planet involved in trying to find me.” It all seemed so desperate now that there must have been a deeper hidden meaning behind it.

“I told you I would come to you, and even though I said that, I don’t remember when exactly I said it.” If only he could remember the place, maybe it would come to him on its own. At least that’s the feeling he had. His violet eyes looked into blue, searching for any hidden truths that may be hidden there.

“Stars. They were shining so brightly, just like your eyes. But instead of the blue, they were purple. No, wait… I think I remember seeing a blue and a red star in the sky somewhere. I don’t remember it clearly, but I’m pretty sure they were there.” Yeah… They must have been blue and red because they were the brightest stars in the sky.

Hearing Keith say all that made incredible warmth spread over Lance, eyes swelling up as tears built up at the edges of his eyes. He sniffed, the tears falling as Keith brushed them off with his thumbs. Lance opened his eyes again, looking at the beautiful violet of Keith’s eyes.

The pale boy smiled softly, their eyes never moving away from each other. “I think I know who you finally are. I always kept asking, but now I remember.” He concentrated to do something he’d never done before, both of their eyes gaining a tint of foreign colour to them, as well as the glow.

Lance found himself breathless as his vision began to change, and instead of Keith, he saw himself through Keith’s eyes. The same happened to Keith because instead of seeing Lance, he saw a vision of himself in real time. Each could see what the other saw, silly in a way that they were looking at themselves instead of the other.

The glow slowly ceased, and now that he noticed it, Keith could feel all kind of emotions coursing through him. Some were his own, but he knew that the incredible excitement he felt couldn’t be his. No… It wasn’t…

“Keith… _Keith_.” Lance sobbed, more tears falling down his cheeks and turning into an utter mess. The pale boy leaned closer, wiping the tears away from Lance’s face. His smile was still there, finally feeling like he remembered everything.

“You’re my soulmate.” Keith managed to say, slowly moving his hand to pull gently at Lance’s pyjamas, revealing the soulmark that was on his collarbone with his name on it. The handwriting was messy, but he would recognise it anywhere, especially since it was his own.

The prince sobbed, reaching his hands around the pale boy’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug. He buried his nose into the crook of Keith’s neck, he sniffed horribly, his entire body shaking from the sheer _joy_  he felt. Sure, Keith didn’t remember everything, but this was more than Lance had hoped.

“I’m never letting you go.” Lance swore, twisting his hands around Keith’s under armour, and fuck he had to get him some real clothes. He was going to give Keith anything he ever wanted, there would be _nothing_  that he’d do without.

Lance leaned into his soulmate, forcing the both of them back down against the pillows, he curled around Keith’s body, “I mean it Keith, I’m never going to let you go again.”

Pale fingers dug into Lance’s sides, “I believe you.”

Lance sniffed again, “We’ll work on your memories Keith. I promise, we’ll work until you remember everything.”

“I know we will.” Keith reached up to scratch behind Lance’s pointed ear. He breathed against the Atlean’s neck, resting against his chin against the royal’s neck.

The two of them laid there, just taking the time to finally touch each other. Lance couldn’t stop running his hands across Keith’s body, loving the warmth. It was so much better to touch the real thing. Only one thing could ruin the moment, Lance wrinkled his nose, hating the feeling of of the under armour against his skin, “You need real clothes.”

Keith mumbled under his breath, “I’m fine.” All he wanted to do was sleep, and that was it.

“No you’re not.” Lance sat up, pulling on Keith’s hand, “Let’s get you in a shower and then in some clean clothes before you fall asleep. I’m not letting my soulmate spend and uncomfortable first night in my bed.”

Keith grumbled, not willing to get up, “Don’t need it.”

“You do.” The Altean stressed, “I won’t stop bothering you, just so you know.”

And Keith had a feeling that Lance was telling the truth. He accepted the fact that he had to do what the royal said, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He got up, letting Lance lead him to the bathroom. Once inside, he showed him all kinds of cosmetic products before giving Keith a towel and giving him his privacy.

While the pale boy showered, Lance decided to go through his clothes, picking out something that would be comfortable for Keith to sleep in. He managed to pick one of his comfiest pyjamas, waiting for Keith to finish before giving them to him. Luckily they were both the same height, so he hoped that the clothes would fit him.

As soon as the door creaked open, Lance pushed himself up, giving the clothes. His soulmate went back to put them on, and luckily they did fit him perfectly. Now refreshed, they climbed back onto the bed, settling themselves down in their previous positions.

Lance let out a satisfied hum, snuggling close to the other. Keith really did manage to keep his promise, which made the Altean all warm inside. And even though he doesn’t remember everything, they’ll work on it.

“It this really okay?” Lance asked, meeting Keith’s eyes, “Us sleeping together like this.”

“We’ve known each other for years.” Keith replied, settling in his spot on the bed like he was made to be here, “And we’re soulmates. I’m pretty sure this is okay.”

Earth, apparently, was a lot more casual about bed sharing than Altea. Lance hummed, deciding not to tell Keith that this was generally considered near marriage levels of intimate for his people, especially with the other draped in his clothes, making it clear to any Altean just whose soulmate he was. Instead Lance lay next to the pale boy who still didn’t know so much about what was going on. His mother, Altea, the possibility the war.

Lance would have to tell him in the morning, but for now he held on to the the other, already feeling the tread of their fragile bond slowly weaving itself back together. The royal hummed, content to leave Earth now that he had this, letting its slow recovery and Keith’s warm skin pull him back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MsBluebell: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! #ProudKeithStanForever #FluffMomIsProud. I hope you have a wonderful day, however old you even are anymore. XD But, seriously, I'm so proud. He even gets to spend his birthday with his family. :'-)  
> BTW, I have an instagram now: msbluebellgarden if you're interested. 
> 
> BlueStarPaladin: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH! We're posting the final chapter on your special day <3 I imagine him celebrating somewhere up in space within the castle and everyone. Ahhh... love our red boy <3
> 
> If we get 50 people wanting us to continue, we'll write one or two more chapters for this story. The poll will be open for two weeks and will be taken down after that time period. [Vote on the poll here.](https://linkto.run/p/PH268YBI)
> 
> Tumblr:  
> MsBluebell: [msbluebell](http://msbluebell.tumblr.com/)  
> BlueStarPaladin: [starellas](https://starellas.tumblr.com/)


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